



ih. 



« « « 1797 — 1$97 « « « 

^''^=^ENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF 
THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN 
(THE OLD WHITE) CHURCH 
BUILDING, * SALEM, WASHINGTON 
COUNTY, N. Y., « NOVEHBER 9th, 1897 * 




ILLUSTRATED. 



PRINTED BY 

T. A. Wright, New Vork. 



^able of Contents. 



PAGE 



Preface 5 

Sermon. By Rev. David Craig Stewart, 9 

Invocation, 23 

Remarks. By the Chairman, 24 

Historical Sketch, 27 

Remarks. By the Chairman, 35 

List of Worshipers 37 

Roll of Members 43 

Scraps Saved from Scattering, 49 

Lines Written for the Occasion 53 

The Present. By Rev. Dr. Turnbull, 55 

Glimpse at the Future. By Rev. Mr. McEachron, . . .58 

Address. By Rev. Dr. E. P. Sprague 61 

Greeting from Albany Presbytery. By Rev. Mr. Williamson, . 64 
Addresses by : 

Rev. G. C. Morehouse, 65 

Rev. A. W. Morris 66 

Mr. Skellie 67 

Reminiscences. By Rev. James C. Forsyth, D.D., . . . .71 
Extract from Letters : 

Rev. Wm. A. Mackenzie, "]"] 

Wm. A. Mackenzie, Jr., 78 

Letters from : 

Rev. Horace L. Singleton, D.D., 78 

Rev. Dr. John D. Wells 79 

Mr. Andrew H. Green, of New York, 80 

Rev. Dr. Richard H. Steele 80 



4 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

Letters. {Continued.) page 

Rev. Dr. James B. Scouller, 8i 

Mrs. F. Halley Wiles 82 

Mrs. Henrietta B. Halley, 83 

Mrs. M. M. Farrington, 83 

Rev. J. A. Reynolds, D.D 84 

Rev. Wm. Johnson, D.D 85 

Rev. John R. Fisher, D.D 85 

Mrs. S. A. Fowler 86 

Rev. Herbert C. Hinds, 87 

Rev. Albert G. Todd, 88 

Rev. Charles T. White, 88 

Rev. James G. Robertson 88 

Rev. T. W. Harwood, 90 

Rev. Wm. H. Meeker, 91 

Description of Relics, 93 



miustrations. 



Frontispiece — Exterior of Church, 

Interior of Church, 

Old Meeting House, 

Portrait of Rev. Dr. Proudfit, 

Plan of Church, 

Photographic View of Parsonage, . 
Portrait of Rev. David Craig Stewart, 
Portrait of Rev. J .C. Forsyth, D.D., 
Portrait of Rev. Wm. A. Mackenzie, 
Portrait of Rev. Ebenezer Halley, D.D., 
Vignette of Tokens, 



PAGE 

Facing 4 
26 
34 
36 
48 
54 
60 
70 
76 
82 
91 



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'-- :-"I-s.^a^..C-<SJ 



EXTERIOR 
1897 



PREFACE. 

A score and a half years ago, wTien the centenary was 
observed of the settlement in Salem by the congregation 
from Ballibay, it was strongly urged by many that the 
proceedings should be published. Preliminaries were 
arranged, but the plan never came to fruition. Dr. Asa 
Fitch's valuable and painstaking address was preserved, 
but only in manuscript, as also were papers full of inter- 
esting memories by several aged ministers, poems inspired 
by the event, speeches congratulatory, reminiscent, fore- 
casting. These have since been collected, and occupy a 
secure, not obscure, corner in the Public Library. 

Moreover, although not printed in compact form, they 
have served as treasuries from which data have been ob- 
tained when other mile-stones in the pilgrimage have been 
reached. 

The next observable point whence a look back was 
taken, to inspire a forward march, was the year 1876. Then 
the clergyman in charge compiled a history, w^hich covers 
the space from the coming of Dr. Thomas Clark, bringing 
over the congregation to this country, until the fifth year 
of the author's pastorate. These five years multij)lied into 
five times five. The quarter-centennial was marked by the 
retention again of facts worth remembering, which assumed 
the shape of "The Anniversary Souvenir." 



6 PREFACE. 

When the edifice where the congregation meets had 
passed its one hundredth birthday, it seemed fitting to 
pursue the gathering and conserving jDrocess once more ; 
especially so as the second century of its occupancy was 
begun under the leadership of a new pastor. The sermon 
which he preached on the first Sabbath of November de- 
servedly comes first in the record of events. 

We reluctantly forego the presentation of all that 
was said and done at the installation service the follow- 
ing Tuesday afternoon. Sermons, charges, speeches, and 
prayers have been recorded in type- writing, however, and 
will remain among the Church archives. This volume is 
confined to what took place in the evening. 

We will detain the reader from its "feast of good things" 
only a few moments longer, to give credit where it is ''"'jhe 
for the complete success of the day. The weather was so 
intensely stormy that it seemed entirely discouraging. The 
particular men there that persevered, carrying messages 
through the rain, going hither and thither at call, perform- 
ing what appeared impossibilities, were the sexton, John 
Wright, "Col." Wm. R. Boyd, Robert McAllister, Jr., 
and John W. McFarland. James K. McFarland also proved 
himself a worthy descendant of the " Jas. A." whose name 
so frequently appeared on the trustees' books in times 
of yore. 

Those trustees' books, by the way, are objects of curi- 
osity from their age. The entries date back more than 
a century, and for many a year have had safe keeping in 
the Stevenson Homestead, under the careful guardianship 
of the clerk, the Hon. Thomas Stevenson. 

From between their ancient leathern covers were ex- 



PREFACE. 7 

tracted a dozen or so of items for the "Historical Sketch." 
These were not collated by the one named as its writer. For 
the unearthing of striking facts from the mass of unsorted 
material she has to thank another. She also acknowledges 
indebtedness to the before-mentioned manuscript of Dr. 
Asa Fitch and the historical sermon of Rev. Wm. A. 
Mackenzie. 

And now, kind reader, proceed to peruse. 



eomntime on Ini^ftatlo!). 



MISS FANNY H. WILLIAMS. 
MR. WM. McFARLAND. MR. DAVID. H. SAFFORD. 




Ibistorical Sermon 

Preached by the Pastor, Rev. David Craig Stewart, 
November 7, 1897. 

" So the workmen ivi'ought, and the work was perfected by them, and they 
set the house of God in his state, and strengthened it!' — 2 Chron. xxiv. 13. 

I have chosen these Avords not for the purpose of dis- 
cussing them in connection with the repairing of the temple 
at Jerusalem, but as a motto rather, under which to speak 
of the building of this house of God in Salem. 

It is said, ' ' There are only two things worthy a man' s 
ambition. One is to write what is worthy of being done, 
and the other is to do what is worthy of being written, 
and of these two the greater is the doing." In the one 
hundred and forty-six years since the organization of this 
congregation in the green isle beyond the sea, and the one 
hundred and thirty-first since its transplanting to the free 
and consecrated soil of America, the sons and daughters of 
Salem have acted well their part in the great drama of life. 
At home and abroad, in church and state, on field and fo- 
rum, they have done many noble deeds, and we might well 
feel honored in reciting them ; but such is not our purpose 
to-day. In the near future, on a more fitting occasion and 
by the pen of a more ready writer, they will be recorded. 
But of the fact that this is the one hundredth anniver- 
sary of the erection of this stately building — the "White 
Church of Salem"— in which we have gathered to-day to 
worship our God and our fathers' God, and that for a 
century has stood a silent witness for the truth and a pro- 
test against evil, is one from which we may learn some 



lo CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

lessons and of the blessings whicli come to those who 
honor God's house. 

The ancestry of a people has much to do in determining 
the attitude in which they stand toward holy things. 
Descendants of the New England Puritans and Scotch- 
Irish settlers of this country, men who feared God, but no 
other person or thing, you have retained this reverence ; 
and it has been a potent factor in moulding the lives and 
shaping the destinies of this people. 

I was interested to note this fact — gleaned from your 
early annals — that the name of this town for many years 
was known as New Perth. 

This name, in connection with those of the places in 
whicli the congi-egation was organized, suggest at once the 
ancestry of your people. Monaghan and Ballibay have a 
distinct flavor of the land of the Shamrock, while New 
Perth is at once suggestive of the heathery hills of 
Scotland. 

Your ancestors, and 1 may truly say our ancestors — 
though for nearly two hundred years my fathers have 
boasted of that proudest of all earthly titles, an American 
citizen — came originally from the 

" Land of brown heath and shaggy wood, 
Land of the mountain and the flood." 

We have in our veins the blood of that hardy race 
which has been so important a factor in subduing the wil- 
derness of the New AVorld and in establishing and per- 
petuating our free institutions. 

It is said of the Scotch-Irish people that they want all 
the good things they see, and never let go anything they 
once lay their hands on. 

Undoubtedly they have tenacity of purpose, which has 
made them the successful competitors in so many enter- 
prises. 

I heard "Ian MacLaren" say, in relating incidents of 



OF OLD WHITE CHURCH. n 

Scottish character, that a Scotchmau was never known to 
yield a point, though always ready to argue the merits oi 
the question. 

To the "dourness" of the original Scotch who came to 
this country by the way of Ireland, there was added a new. 
trait during their sojourn in the green isle, which, com- 
bined and developed under the clear skies and pure free 
air of America, have produced many of the grandest char- 
acters the world has ever known. As illustrative of the 
tenacity of the Scotch-Irish, an incident, related by the 
Rev. Dr. McCartee, who some seventy years ago was one 
of the most popular clergymen in New York City, may 
well be repeated. Speaking to Mr. Robert Bonner, the 
doctor said that in his younger days he had two prominent 
members of his church who were not on speaking terms. 
One was Scotch, the other Scotch-Irish. They had quar- 
reled about some trivial matter, and the feeling became 
very bitter. The doctor labored for a long time to recon- 
cile them; but neither could be moved. At last, after a 
serious talk, the Scotchman consented to meet his Scotch- 
Irish fellow-member in a friendly manner and let by-gones 
be by-gones. The doctor then went to the Scotch-Irishman ; 
but he was as firm as ever : he did not want anything to do 
with "that man." Finally the doctor bore down on him 
pretty hard, urging upon him his duty as a Christian, and 
asking him : ' ' How can you expect to be forgiven if you 
will not forgive?" When the Scotch-Irishman, with great 
emotion, while trying to conquer his feeling, exclaimed : 
"Yes, yes; I'll forgive him, but I want to get one good 
crack at him first." 

We do not wonder our ancestors desired to call their 
home in the New World by that name, associated with so 
many glorious events in the history of Scotland. We 
could easily believe that to those who desired a change they 
would ' ' have granted ye ' ' there was room for argument ; 
but our wonder is that, even under the benign influences of 



12 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

the New World, they could have so readily yielded a 
controversy, and accepted the beautiful title of Salem — 
''City of Peace." 

Early associations have much to do in shaping our lives 
and training our aspirations, and can never be wholly for- 
gotten. One hundred years of uninterrupted service in 
this house, dedicated to the worship of God, by our fathers, 
who in this Western World sought "freedom to worship 
Grod," means much in privileges and responsibilities to 
those who are children of this Church — means much to the 
community in which this building stands. 

In the Old World I have stood on ground which for 
more than a thousand years has been made sacred as a 
place of worship — where Pagan and Christian alike have 
made their supplications according to the knowledge they 
had and the light they possessed — ground that had been 
made forever memorable as the battle-ground between 
truth and error. 

And as I stood in silent meditation thinking on what 
the hand of Grod had wrought in the history of the world, 
the spectral form of the centuries seemed to pass in grand 
review before me. 

About me were scattered the ruins of heathen altars ; 
but the names of those who built them and offered 
incense at their shrine have been forgotten, or, if known at 
all, only remembered because Christianity has preserved 
them from oblivion by numbering them among her enemies. 

"The memory of the just is blessed; but the name of the wicked shall 
rot." 

All around me were the evidences of a Christian civiliza- 
tion, while in the magnificent temples reared to the glory 
of God I saw the triumph of the cross and the fulfillment 
of the promises of the Christians' Lord, 

To-day is a time and here is a place for meditation. 
With some of you whose lives reach back to the time when 



OF OLD WHITE CHURCH. 13 

this old Church was new — memory is busy — you recall the 
days of old ; you think of the fathers and mothers in Israel 
who "rest from their labors;" of the companions by the 
way, many of whom have long since been called to their 
reward; you think of the trials you have borne and the 
victories you have won, and, with tears of memory and 
smiles of hope, rejoice in the goodness of God to you in the 
land of the living. 

And as the glory of this house surpasses the glory of 
those of earlier years, as the present exceeds in opportunity 
the past, so may the future be more fruitful as strength- 
ened by past memories of what God has done, and you 
go forth to greater efforts and grander triumphs. 

The power of these local associations cannot be over- 
estimated. It influences all, but is most thrilling to minds 
of the most delicate tone. Says Dr. Johnson: "To 
abstract the mind from all local emotion would be impos- 
sible if it were endeavored, and would be foolish if it were 
possible. Whatever withdraws us from the power of the 
senses ; whatever makes the past, the distant, or the future 
predominate over the present, advances us in the dignity 
of thinking beings.'' We would not envy the man whose 
piety would not grow warmer as he stood in the old Grey 
Friars' churchyard in the city of Edinburgh, and beside the 
stone on which his ancestors had signed the Solemn League 
and Covenant in their blood ; or the man whose patriotism 
would not gain force as he stood on Bunker Hill, where his 
fathers had died to establish, or on the heights of Gettys- 
burg, where his brothers had fought to maintain, our Federal 
Union. 

But moral associations are the most affecting. Places 
which have been the scenes of great events have an irre- 
sistible attraction for a susceptible heart and cultivated 
mind. Shadowy forms are all around us, and we seem to 
see them acting and hear them speaking as if actually 
present with us. 



14 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

Such associations move us more profoundly and stir our 
souls to greater depths than to listen to a recital of their 
deeds, or read the products of their genius. Under such 
influences new impulses take x^ossession of us, and we are 
lifted into a higher life and moved to nobler deeds. 

Here the workmen wrought one hundred years ago. 
How well they wrought, let this magnificent building, 
which has stood the changes of a century, and bids fair to 
stand another century, bear witness. The minds that 
planned, the hands that fashioned, and the hearts whose 
love sustained the work, have long since passed away, 
but ''their works do follow them." The grand men, who, 
as laborers together with God, have stood in this pulpit 
and proclaimed the everlasting Gospel, have many of them 
long since gone to their reward. Others still remain, to 
enjoy the fruits of their labor here, and continue to serve 
their Master in other fields. They were workmen all, 
" who needed not to be ashamed." 

They wrought upon human hearts, and helped to fashion 
lives that shall endure as temples of the Holy Ghost. 
While we pay our tribute of respect to their memory, let 
us honor them more by seeking to preserve inviolable the 
inheritance transmitted to our care. 

" The lot to me that fell 
Is beautiful and fair ; 
The heritage in which I dwell, 
None can with it compare." 

The records which have been preserved tell us that, at a 
congregational meeting, held in March, 1796, it was decided 
to build this house, and that it was completed November 
1, 1797. We may reasonably infer that it was used for 
worship the first Sabbath of November, which wjis just one 
hundred, years ago to-day. 

One hundred years ago ! How short the time as we 
measure it in this rushing busy age ! How long ago as we 
look upon the changes that have taken place and the work 



OF OLD WHITE CHURCH. 15 

that has been done. There are among you lives which 
almost connect us with that time ; a score of such lives 
would carry us back to the days of Jesus Christ. The 
Word seems very near us. That audience which assembled 
here a hundred years ago is doubtless viewing with 
interest our proceedings here to-day. Turn back the pages 
of history ; draw aside the curtains of the j)ast : and we 
stand in the presence of that vast assembly who were glad 
when it was said unto them, ""Let us go up to the house of 
the Lord." 

We look upon the revered and venerable form of that 
master in Israel, Dr. James Proudfit, who had fallen upon 
the high places of the field, but still lived to see his son, 
Alexander, "mighty in word and deed," go before the 
people to lead them in the way of life. 

With bowled heads the people stand before the Lord to 
receive the blessing invoked by the servant of God. 
How their hearts must have thrilled with joy, and how 
these walls must have echoed with their glad songs as they 
sang: 

"The Lord hath done great things for us, 
Whence joy to us is brought." 

What a contrast between then and now ! Not so much 
in the spirit in which they came together, or the character 
of the worship which they offered, but in the circumstances 
by which they were surrounded. 

Here was "the forest primeval." Our fathers were 
making for themselves homes in the then almost unbroken 
wilderness. Theirs was not a day of fable and legend, 
which could transmute a dim conjecture into romantic 
fact. Their lives were full of toil, but their hearts were 
full of hope. By open fires, in their rude cabins, they 
"remembered Zion," and from altars of prayer there went 
up the morning and evening sacrifice. 

Trembling among the trees, and echoing softly among 
the hills, were the songs of Zion. The rush of trains and 



i6 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

the busy hum of trade disturbed not the deep quiet of the 
Sabbath. 

The squirrel might play undisturbed at the door, or the 
deer might drink with impunity at the spring, for there 
was a ' ' holy resting all that day, even from such worldly 
employments and recreations as are lawful on other 
days." In the fear of the Lord they laid deep and strong 
the foundation of the prosperity and comforts we to-day 
enjoy. 

We are living amid scenes which memory has sanctified, 
history commemorated, and poetry adorned. Every stream 
has its hallowed associations, every field its tale of blood 
and sacrifice, and "not a mountain lifts its head unsung," 
or is unworthy of heroic strains. 

Although the external aspect of nature has changed 
under the influence of our New^ World enterprise, although 
science and art are multiplying their monuments all around, 
and many vestiges of the primitive wilderness have been 
swept away, still 

"A spirit hangs, 
Beautiful region, o'er thy towns and farms." 

This is our inheritance. But how close this venerable 
building links us to the past ! No transforming change 
has been made since it first echoed the worship of our 
fathers, a hundred years ago. 

There may have been less fire in the building and more 
fire in the jDulpit than now, but the fervor of the hearers 
did not prevent their feet from getting cold, as is evidenced 
from the fact that an order from the trustees to the sexton 
instructed him carefully to look after any foot-stoves that 
might be left in the pews after the congregation had been 
dismissed. True, there may have been some necessary 
additions and repairs, but we are none the worse for some 
of the comforts adapted to our modern civilization. But 
the changes have been immaterial; so w^ell had the work- 
men wrought, so carefully had they built, that we look 



OF OLD WHITE CHURCH. 17 

to-day upon the same walls which sheltered our fathers, a 
hundred years ago. We look upon the pews where there 
are seated those to-day who are the fifth generation of 
those that loved God and kept His commandments. 

Instead of the fathers, God has taken the children, and 
amid the rush of memories to-day we seem to see tlie 
shadowy hands of our fathers stretched across the chasm 
of one hundred years and resting in benediction upon our 
heads. 

There are cold-blooded men who speak with contempt 
of that reverence in which we hold a Christian temple as 
God's peculiar dwelling-place. 

They look upon it as only so much wood and stone, or 
brick and mortar ; and Sabbath-breakers would bring to 
themselves some salve for a guilty conscience in sentimental 
talk of the "groves as God's first temple." 

But the Biblical idea of the place where God is wor- 
shij)ed is represented everywhere in the Word as one of 
peculiar and awful solemnity. 

The forests waved their branches Just as majestically 
and invitingly in nature' s temples when Abraham journeyed 
three days to Mount Moriali, that in a definite and becom- 
ing place he might meet and worship God. 

The stars of an Oriental sky shone just as resplendent 
as now on that night when Jacob, his head pillowed upon 
a stone, slept upon a Syrian plain and discovered before 
morning that God was there. He called the place Bethel, 
and said, "How dreadful is this place ! This is none other 
than the house of God ; and this is the gate of Heaven." 

The temple, which was the crowning glory of Solomon's 
magnificent reign, and which was so sacred that neither 
sound of axe nor hammer was heard in its building, was 
rich and beautiful in its furnishings almost beyond our 
conception; but it was God's conception as a house for His 
worship. He says, " I have hallowed this place to put My 
name there forever." 



i8 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

Such is the Scriptural idea of the sacredness of God' s 
house, "The holy place, the place where Mine honor 
dwelleth." 

The associations of God's house are very helpful in 
forming and building up our religious character. More 
than we know or think, we are influenced by our surround- 
ings. The recollection of our experiences in the house of 
God is among our most precious memories. 

We recall the j)rayers we have heard, and the old songs 
of Zion still ring sweetly in our ears. Some sermon we 
heard in our youthful days still helps us in our mature 
years. 

We feel yet the soft pressure of our mother's hand to 
quiet our childish restlessness, and see again the kindly 
look of father bent ujjon us in mild reproof. A flow of 
holy memories rush upon us to quicken our spiritual 
impulses and help us to a purer and holier life. " 'They 
are the golden vials full of odors.' They come back to us 
in after years, 'trailing clouds of glory.' They make 
the very walls of the house of God eloquent. ' The 
stone cries out of the wall, and the beam out of the 
timber answers it.' The very silence of the place on a 
week-day is more potent than angels' voices." 

"O thou homely meeting-house of my youth, God bless 
thee ! If I forget thee, let my right hand forget her cun- 
ning ; if I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to 
the roof of my mouth." And so "we recall the years of 
the right hand of the Most High," and honor this house of 
God to-day. We rejoice that in this Salem is His tabernacle. 
May it last as long as the sun and moon endure : a place to 
which the tribes of Israel in future generations may repair ; 
where Zion's weary pilgrims may find comfort, and where 
the weary, sin-sick soul may find rest. 

But I would not close this address without a loving 
invitation to all who have not ' ' tasted and seen that the 
Lord is good and gracious," and especially to the children 



OF OLD WHITE CHURCH. ig 

of this congregation who have not said of their fathers' 
God, "He is my Lord," to "come with lis and we will do 
you good." By the sacred memories of the past, by the 
gracious opportunities of the present, by the glorious hopes 
for the future, I plead with you, in Christ's name, to come 
unto him and He will give you rest. 

And thus we close the service of a hundred years, in 
which God' s people have come to this house to ' ' worship 
before the Lord in the beauty of holiness ; " and, as we enter 
upon the second century of service together, may it be with 
the prayer of the Psalmist trembling upon our lips : 

" Now Thy light and truth forth sending, 
Let them lead and guide me still; 
Guide me to Thy house ascending, 
Lead me to Thy holy hill." 



And so- 



"Thy mercies which most tender are, 
To mind do I recall ; 
And loving kindnesses for they 
Have been through ages all." 

Amen. 



Imagine yourselves — on returning from the Memorial 
Chapel of a sister congregation, where a rich and boun- 
teous repast of turkey and plum-pudding had been fur- 
nished — now seated in the "White Church," adorned as 
seen in the picture, but the recess filled with an imposing 
crowd of those who were to speak, and ' ' lend them your 
ears." 



Mbitc Cburcb" BuilMno CcntenniaL 



7:15 O'CLOCK P. M. 



Invocation, Rev. D. C. Stewart 

Chairman, Abner Robertson, Esq. 

Anthem. 

Reading of Scripture, . . . Rev. G. C. Morehouse 

Psalm loo: 

" All people that on earth do dwell, 

Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice, 
Him serve with mirth, His praise forth tell. 
Come ye before Him and rejoice. 

" Because the Lord, our God, is good. 
His mercy is forever sure ; 
His truth at all times firmly stood, 
And shall from age to age endure." 

Prayer, Rev. E. P. Sprague, D. D. 

Historical Sketch, . . , Miss Fanny H. Williams 
Anthem. 

Lines Written for the Occasion. 

Letters from Old Friends, . . Read by John King, Esq. 
"The Present," .... Rev. T. B. Turnbull, D. D. 
Anthem. 

"A Glimpse at the Future," . . Rev. W. S. McEachron 
Congratulations. Benediction. Social Hour. 



Celebration of the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Church 
Building of the U. P. Church of Salem, N. Y., Tuesday, Nov. pth, 
1897, 7:15 o'clock P. M. Abner Robertson, Esq., of Salem, Chairman. 



Remarks by the Pastor, Rev. D. Craig Stewart. 

We are glad to greet you all. The occasion which 
brings us together is a very peculiar one and a very hapi:)y 
one, as we come together to celebrate the one liundredth 
anniversary of the erection of this Church building. It is 
one in which certainly not any who are present here 
to-night will ever participate again in the same capacity. 
But we are glad that we are among the living who witness 
it to-night; and, as we enter upon the service, let us unite 
in invoking the divine blessing. 

Oh Thou who art the God of our fathers, we praise 
Thee ; Thou who art our God, we worship before Thy foot- 
stool and offer unto Thee to-night the tribute of grateful 
hearts as we come together. And we pray that the blessing 
of the Lord may rest upon us, and may we have the 
guidance of His Spirit in all things. Do Thou direct us, 
each one, as we shall take our several parts in the exercises 
of this occasion. Bless Thy servants who shall speak to 
us; and bless, we pray Thee, the words which they may 
bring to each one of us. And, as we recall the blessings 
of the past, as we enjoy the blessings of the present, and as 
we look forward hopefully to the future, we pray that the 
Spirit of the Lord, which has guided those who have gone 
before us in the days and years gone by, may not only 
abide with us in our hearts and in our homes, but may so 
lead and guide us in the journey of life that we may be 



24 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

brought at last unto the perfect Man. And may the good- 
ness and the mercy, which has followed us all the days of 
our lives, still continue to lead and guide us until at last 
God's house shall receive us. We ask it in Jesus' name. 
Amen. 

It is now my pleasant duty to introduce the chairman 
of the evening, who will take charge of the exercises — Mr. 
Abner Robertson. 



Remarks by Mr. Abner Robertson. 

Ladies aistd Gentlemen and Friends: I attended a 
meeting last year out of town — I wish to impress upon 
you all the fact that it was out of town — which was pre- 
sided over by a gentleman of distinguished presence and 
dignified mien, and to my mind he presided over it satis- 
factorily; but the next day I heard a couple of citizens of 
that town discussing the meeting, and one of them remarked, 
"What an elegant chairman Mr, So-and-so would have 
made if he had only kept his mouth shut." Now, I do 
not intend to run any risk of that kind, not to any great 
extent. I only wish to say that upon this occasion we 
are here to do honor to this ancient temple, reared for the 
service of the Almighty God of the universe, and at the 
same time we are doing honor to ourselves. 

The old " White Church " owes no debts. Speaking from 
a commercial standpoint, it has paid par and one hundred 
per cent, premium on all of its stock to all of its stock- 
holders. There is no man, woman, or child, living or dead, 
that can claim that he or she has not received full value 
for all the services performed in this old temple. And the 
thought has struck me to-night, since I have been sitting 
here, that perhaps my name would live the longer for the 
part I am taking here this evening. This Church has stood 
for one hundred years. Although I am no prophet, nor 



OF OLD WHITE CHURCH. 25 

even the son of a deacon, I still will venture to say that it 
will stand here another century still to come. To para- 
phrase from one of the i)oets : 

" Men may come and men may go, 
But the church goes on forever." 

But, whether this particular edifice will stand here or 
not, I feel safe in asserting, without fear of serious contra- 
diction, that it, or another one, will stand here on this sj^ot 
one hundred years from to-night, and that the centennial 
celebration will be then renewed. And it may be that 
some one who is then interested in the Church will look 
back at the old record to see who presided a hundred years 
ago when they celebrated the centennial of the "White 
Church" in Salem. And he will look at the records, and 
say, perhaps, ''Well, it is a little dim, but I think his 
name was Robertson. Well, who was he ? I don't know. 
He is dead, but he might have been a pretty decent sort of 
a man. He lived in Salem, and his given name is taken from 
the Bible; but, then, his parents probably gave him the 
name: he wasn't to blame for that." And so, when I 
might otherwise be forgotten, I may be remembered on 
account of this evening. And so I again assert that the 
old "White Church" always pays its debts. 

It has been my good fortune during the past eight 
months to visit a number of ancient and historical churches 
in this country I visited the church in Alexandria, Ya., 
in which Gen. A¥ashington worshiped while he resided at 
Mount Vernon, and sat in the pew which he and his family 
occupied; the old church is preserved in its interior in 
just the same form as it was then. I visited the old South 
Churcli in Boston, which, during the Revolutionary War, 
the British used as a training and riding school for their 
cavalry, and in the gallery of which Gen. Washington 
stood after the British had been driven out of the city; I 
should have thought that the British, who have such 



26 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

regard for their own churclies, would have had some re- 
spect for those of others. I visited the old Christ Church 
in Boston, from the belfry of which Paul Revere flaslied 
out his light, throwing the signal across the water to his 
comrades of the proposed intentions of the British, which 
light is still flashing over this country and will continue to 
flash as long as the spirit of liberty shall live. I visited 
the old Christ Church at Marblehead, of historical interest. 
And perhaps the most interesting of all: the old Roger 
Williams Church, in Salem, Mass., the first Protestant 
church of worship greeted in America ; it is preserved 
to-day as it was a hundred years ago; it is about the size 
of two of the church-sheds contiguous to this Church, and 
the architecture is almost as plain. 

And, while looking on these ancient and historical 
churches, my mind would continually revert to another 
Church, in the village of my birth and the village of my 
heart — the Church that I love, the Church in which my 
spiritual life commenced, and in which I trust I shall con- 
tinue to worship as long as God shall spare my life. Other 
and more eloquent lips will tell you all the good this 
Church has done to this community and the surrounding 
communities, and I will not speak on that subject; but I 
will only pray that the Church may continue in the future, 
as it has been in the past, to be a blessing to this commu- 
nity and to all the people who worship therein. May God 
grant my prayer. 




L\TER1UR 

1897 



Ibietorical Shetcb. 

By Miss Fanny H. Williams. 

The question has been frequently asked, and most 
naturally, since this evening's observance has been talked 
of, ""Is it the original Church edifice of the Salem congre- 
gation?" To the query we begin by replying, "No: the 
third." And as, in a biography, the father is always men- 
tioned, and possibly the grandfather, so the ancestral line 
of this venerable structure must receive due notice. 

It was in 1766 that the congregation settled in Salem, 
coming across bodily from the old country — pastor, elders, 
people. The same year they erected the "meeting house," 
as such places of worship were then termed. "This was 
the first of the kind in all the region north from Albany to 
the Canada line;" therefore remarkable, though it was 
only a rough log cabin. It was in the south part of the 
village. But do not confuse it with the " Old Meeting 
House" we now see there. That was the second in the 
line of succession. The congregation outgrew their first 
little home ; therefore the "framed" house was built: it 
dates back before the Revolutionary War, and was looked 
upon as a magnificent edifice by those afar as well as near. 
' ' Have you seen the meeting house at New Perth '\ ' ' one 
would ask another. ' ' That is a sight worth seeing. ' ' Poor 
old dingy thing we regard it now. But the Word of the 
Lord was there proclaimed by His faithful messengers. Dr. 
Clark and Drs. James and Alexander Proudfit. The pres- 
entation of the pure Gospel proved all-sufiicient to attract 
hearers. The crowds who assembled from week to week 
"flew as the doves to their windows," for all could not 
find room within. The necessity for a larger edifice was thus 



28 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

shown. At a meeting of the congregation in March, 1796, 
it was voted to build another sanctuary, double the size of 
the old; the new one was to be 60 feet long, 50 feet wide. 

And so the old " White Church" was begun. Eighteen 
months it was in building: a contrast to the rapid manner 
in which such undertakings are now carried on. Contrast, 
for instance, the United Presbyterian Chapel near Chicago : 
arranged for one Friday, erected Saturday, worshiped in 
on the Sabbath. But those walls, run up so speedily, will 
not probably be standing a century hence; whereas ours, 
wooden though they are, seem likely to remain when the 
written date is 1997. 

One of the requisites voted on at that March meeting 
was a steeple. The spire now pointing towards heaven is 
not the same; that did not withstand the shocks of time so 
well. It was struck by lightning twice, but not consumed. 
The tradition is that, on the first occasion, "Deacon" 
Beatties's wife, living across the street, saw the flames, 
rushed over, barefooted, broke open the Church door, 
pulled the bell, so giving the alarm, and the fire was 
extinguished with buckets. 

In the new Church was a very high, narrow pulpit, 
originally with a stupendous sounding-board, which 
aroused the apprehensions of the preacher, Dr. Alex. 
Proudfit. At his entreaty it was taken down. The pulpit 
itself was lowered the first time the Church was repaired; 
later on a white marble desk with Egyptian pillars was 
presented. From behind this were poured forth the spiritual 
words of the Proudfits, the fervid Scotch eloquence of Dr. 
Halley, the substantial discourses of Mr. Lillie, the terse 
sentences of Rev. Thomas Farrington, the sonorous speech 
of Mr. Forsyth, and for five years the soul-stirring voice 
of Rev. Wm. A Mackenzie. The other twenty, of his 
quarter of a century's occupancy, his sermons were deliv- 
ered from the desk now standing here. This was the gift of 
Henry Archibald. The white pulpit is still in a state of 



OF OLD WHITE CHURCH. 29 

preservation, waiting for some other change : the i^utting 
in of a pipe-organ, may be, to bring it out of its hiding- 
place. 

There were 26 square pews in the Church, 136 seats in 
all, including those in the gallery; there are 120 now down- 
stairs. And in those seats, last Sabbath, when the anni- 
versary sermon was preached, sat the fifth generation of 
those who worshiped in the building used for the first 
time 100 years before. In the identical pew owned by the 
Thompsons was Clarence Ladd; and in the slips near the 
center of the Church, Raymond Cruikshank — fifth de- 
scendant of one son, Mabel Henrietta, in the fourth line, 
daughter of another. 

The "White Church" was an expensive erection for 
those days ; four thousand dollars being required. This was 
mostly devoted to the purchase of materials, for much of 
the labor was free. Many a "bee" was had to help on 
the work. Our venerable friend, Capt. James Thompson, 
relates his remembrance of a tale oft recounted by Col. 
John Steele : how the latter, as a baby, was brought by his 
mother and left to roll around on the grass, while she 
helped to supply with a lunch the busy farmers who had 
"lent a hand" all day at the building. 

Mr. Walter Martin was the contractor and engaged an 
architect from Sturb ridge, Mass., famed for his skill. 

When the time came for raising the money needed for 
paying the $4,000 the pews were sold at auction. Some of 
those are still " owned" by the descendants of the original 
buyers. But those who thus possessed the seats rented 
the same at a fixed rate, thus contributing towards the 
Church expenses. So generous were these buyers that, 
after the $4,000 was expended, according to contract, there 
remained a residue of $200, which was divided among the 
committee. 

This proceeding was strictly regular, it having been 
voted on, at a congregational meeting, that these men were 



30 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

entitled to it as a recompense for their time and labor, 
although it was undertaken by them entirely as a labor 
of love. 

We note from time to time in the Church records that, 
when additional sums were needed for repairs or alterations, 
those in office had no hesitation in laying a tax on the 
pews, demanding^ as it were, such and such sums. Nor 
do we read of any objections to such assessments, though 
the money was not always paid. 

It may not be out of place to observe here that the 
system of pew rents has been abolished. The "envelope 
system," or voluntary pledge, has taken its place. 

Let us retrace our steps and read this paragraph : 

1841. — ^^ Hesolved^ That the young men subscribing are 
entitled to a credit of the amount of their subscription 
whenever they may choose to purchase a slip." 

The names are : John Williams, Jr. , Wm. McFarlane, 
Alex. Robertson, Henry Matthews, A. M. Proudfit, John 
W. Proudfit, Alvin Goodrich. 

The repairs were to the amount of $3,000, and consisted 
of new floor, new chimneys, from top to bottom, new win- 
dow-sashes, etc. ; also arch and cornice overhead. Glance 
up and you can see the cornice there now. 

Some years before that (in 1810) record is found of an 
assessment, the object of raising the money being to pur- 
chase a bell. It was not to exceed 660 iDounds, so as not to 
be too heavy for the steeple (it is supposed). Its call has 
not been loud. Newer and weightier metal voices mingle 
with and almost drown it now; but yet for eighty-seven 
years it has been pealing forth, "Come! come! come!" 
and the people have come, nor have they ever been turned 
away unblessed. 

In one sense it is the identical bell, in another the suc- 
cession of its metallic preaching has been broken ; for 
during a fire it was cracked: some say by falling, some 



OF OLD WHITE CHURCH. 31 

declare by too vigorous ringing. At all events it had to be 
recast. 

Occasionally we lind it served for other purposes. 
Witness the entry : 

1822. — ''''Resolved^ That James Dobbin have the use of 
the bell in the Church to ring when required by the court — 
hy Ms talcing care and preventing hoysfroia rummaging 
through the ChurcJi^ 

Young America was much the same in those days as 
now. Again we read : 

"-Resolved^ That the bell should be rung only for divine 
service and funerals, as it disturbed the sicky 

The tolling at funerals was a peculiar feature of those 
ancient times, a function of much solemnity. Although 
the New England custom of numbering the years of the 
departed was not observed, it was the duty of the sexton 
to watch, and, as the first vehicle appeared from among 
the hills, to pull stroke after stroke, at intervals of five 
minutes, till the train with its sad burden reached the 
burial-ground. The service itself was seldom held within 
the Church, but in the home. We remark, in passing, that 
the wedding ceremony has been performed only thrice 
within its walls. 

A purchase was made in 1797, which must have added 
greatly to the comfort of the congregation — namely, that 
of two large ' ' seven-plate ' ' stoves, with many feet of pipe. 
No way of heating had been employed in the log building 
or the old meeting house, except as individual members 
brought foot-stoves; therefore these stoves were looked 
upon as a wonderful improvement. As years rolled on, and 
people needed more heat, two more were bought and placed 
in the aisles near the pulpit. Within the memory of the 
last generation the removal of this unwieldy apparatus 
for warmth was hailed with satisfaction and the long, 



32 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

uncouth pipes — from which the smoky water would leak 
and drip and stain, in spite of little tin basins suspended 
underneath — taken down. The fuel employed had always 
been wood, until the first Sabbath of November, 1897 — one 
hundred years after its first occupancy — a new coal furnace 
diffused a steady heat through the building. 

As for lighting in the early years. So seldom were 
meetings held in the evenings, that all the provision made 
was of candles, with long tin reflectors. About sixty 
years ago a chandelier with glass drops was bought by 
Mr. John Williams. It hangs still where it was suspended 
then. That in the recess of more recent date, but selected 
to correspond, was placed there in memory of an aged 
church member ; the tall lamps were a legacy from another ; 
chairs are also, in a way, a memorial. At one time the 
side galleries were hung with highly ornamented gilt 
lamps, the gift of Mrs. James Gibson, wife of the late 
lamented Judge Gibson. Like other things, they wore out 
and had to be set aside. 

The following paragraph, copied from the trustees' 
book, strikes us as being peculiar : 

Dec. 26, 1834. — '''■Resolved. That the sacramental seats 
and tables belonging to the Church where the Rev. Alex. 
Proudfit is pastor shall not be taken from the above- 
named Church to go to the Academy for any exhibition." 

Evidently they had been so taken heretofore, or asked 
for. And this leads us to remark that the custom was in 
those days, when the Lord's Supper was dispensed, for the 
first pews to be converted into tables, benches placed in 
front, and the communicants to come forward, singing as 
they took their seats. This was discontinued some year 
during the fifties. 

The practice of giving and receiving "tokens" was con- 
tinued up to that time. 

There seem to be some missing links in the chain of 



OF OLD WHITE CHURCH 33 

facts; but they are more than one can deal with in detail 
of those still on record. 

In 1823 extensive repairs were undertaken, and the 
square pews remodelled. In 1840 and 1841, also, renovating 
touches were given to the woodwork, and fresh paint ap- 
plied. 

The vestibule was added at one time. When we 
remember the changes in front and rear of the edifice, the 
renewal of window-frames and doors, the replacing of 
shingles by slate on the roof, one hesitates to affirm that it 
is the same house as that of 1797 ; but there are enough of 
the stanch old beams and timbers to establish its identity. 

In 1842 the "draw-well" was dug. It is that now in the 
grounds, whose water still refreshes the small boy on his 
way from school, quenches the thirst of the minister when 
he becomes "dry" from too much speaking, and keeps the 
pretty flowers used for decoration from withering away. 
It is from there that have been drawn the baptismal drops 
with which the generations of infants have been sj)rinkled, 
as the parents promised them to their Saviour, the source 
whence came the "outward and visible sign" when adults 
sealed their vows. 

That the Session House in the enclosure was burned in 
1841 is a matter of record. Though many Church papers 
perished in the flames, the Meeting House was spared. 
Considering that the building so near it was swept away ; 
in view of the fact that the steeple was twice struck by 
lightning, as before related ; and that, only week before 
last, the cry of Are from an opposite building startled the 
village, — we have cause for gratitude that these four walls 
remain unscorched, unconsumed. 

While they trust in Providence, the trustees also acted 
as wise men, attached a lightning-rod, and kept the building- 
well insured. This has been the practice since 1834. 

Among items concerning repairs, we And references to 
floors relaid, which reminds us to state that there was 



34 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

no carpet until the Church had been built more than half 
a century. The sound of incoming feet used to be most 
disturbing; especially when those comers were late and the 
service had begun. 

A ludicrous incident occurred one Sabbath. As the 
minister was well on in his sermon, a pattering, clattering 
noise was heard, and a large ram advanced up the aisle, 
his hoofs clicking over the bare boards, the pew-doors 
banging adding to the uproar. He walked up to the pulpit, 
there being no room for him to turn about, and was escorted 
out as soon as might be. 

When the edifice was first erected, the end wall behind 
the pulpit was a flat, staring surface of white i3laster. At 
the time of some of the renovations, Mr. William McKie, 
a man of large heart and generous hand, conceived the 
idea that a fresco in the rear would relieve the eye. Many 
demurred at the price demanded by the first-class artist 
whom he had interviewed ; it seemed to them too much 
money to "waste" on mere adornment. Therefore Mr. 
McKie offered to pay the whole cost. The painting was 
executed ; and though the tesselated floor, also the curtain 
with tassels, slightly suggestive of the stage, might have 
been criticised as incongruous, it certainly did give an idea 
of space. So good was the perspective, that one man was 
entirely certain that the front pillars were veritably built 
of wood ; ' ' the rest he knew was only a picture. ' ' The 
picture held its own for twenty years, till other changes 
necessitated its removal. 

In 1867 — the year that the centennial of the congregation 
was celebrated, that is to say, of its immigration to this 
country : it having been in existence in the North of 
Ireland many years before — there was erected a platform 
to accommodate the speakers from abroad. This was left 
to stand afterwards for more than a year. Some thought it 
an addition which was no improvement; but it will be ever 
memorable from the assembling there, the following spring, 




THE OLD MEETING HOUSE 



OF OLD WHITE CHURCH. 35 

of eleven young men, who came forward to confess Christ, 
and, standing upon it, in full view of "the great Congre- 
gation, ' ' received the ordinance of baptism from the hands of 
Rev. J. C. Forsythe, and next sat together at the table of the 
Lord. Subsequent!}^ five more came, and six more after that. 

In 1876 very great changes were accomplished : a cellar 
was dug beneath the Church, the whole building raised, 
a higher foundation put under, and furnaces put in the 
cellar ; a recess was added behind, with study and rooms 
each side. Some years later the room over the vestibule 
was modernized : benches taken out and chairs put in, and 
sliding-doors inserted between the audience-room and 
lecture-room. 

This was before the organization of the Improvement 
Society, but was carried out through the energy and per- 
severance of a few ladies. 

Since it is the material substance only that we are to 
bring into prominence — the wood and stone, brass and iron 
and mortar — we pause, leaving others to speak of the life 
within. 

Remarks by the Chairman. 

I wish to supplement Miss Williams' interesting His- 
torical Sketch with a remark about the well in front of the 
Church of which she speaks. That well has been the means 
of saving thousands of dollars' worth of property in the 
village. It is the best fire well in this section. Both the 
steam and the hand engines, while drawing water from it 
to the extent of their power, only lower it an inch or two. 
And it seems, just a couple of weeks ago, by its nearness 
to Mr. Blashfield's warehouse when it was on fire, this well 
was the means of saving hundreds and thousands of dollars' 
worth of property. And it would seem that this well is 
similar perhaps, in its unlimited' supply of water, to the 
Church. All can draw water from the well of salvation, 
as it is unlimited in supply. 




REV. ALEXANDER PROL'DEIT, 1). D. 
1795-1835 



Xi0t of Morebipers, 

A list of the Ancestors who worshiped in the "White 
Church" one hundred years ago, and of their descendants 
whose names are now or have recently been on the Church 
Records. 

The * signifies absence from home, temporary or permanent. 

Thomas Beatiie, Sr., was the ancestor of the Beattie family in Salem, 
and had five sons : John, Thomas, William, Samuel and David. 



William J. Beaty. 

(Mrs. Mary J. Dennison Beaty.) 

Agnes. 

Frank. 

Mary Grace. 

J. Ebenezer Beaty. 

(Mrs. Margaret McMurray Beattie.) 

* Louise B. 
Maggie. 
Edith. 
Ruth. 
Marian. 
Alfred. 
Ernest. 
Emily, 

William Beattie. 
(Mrs. Catherine McKinney Beattie.) 

* Marcus. 

* Beverly. 
Eva. 
May. 
Nannie. 
Chauncey. 
Clara Bell. 

Mrs. Elizabeth Beattie. 

Mary. 

Sarah. 

Mrs. Nellie Beattie Johnston. 

(John W. Johnston.) 



[Johnston] Mary B, 
Hazel. 
Robert. 
Mrs. Alice Beattie McGeoch. 
(William McGeoch.) 
* Mrs. Jennie Beattie McMichael. 
Robert Beattie. 
(Mrs. Margaret Owens Beattie.) 
Winifried M. 
Elizabeth N. 
John S. Beattie. 
Sarah J. Beattie. 

* Mrs. Almira Beattie Scha£fer. 

* Mrs. Kate Beattie McFarland. 

Mrs. Grace Beattie. 

Mrs. Abby Beaty Fitch. 

(Wm. J. Fitch.) 

* Lemira M. Beaty. 

Euphemia Beattie. 

Hannah Beattie. 

* Ebenezer U. 

Charles A. Beattie. 

(Mrs. Emmagene Rogers Beattie.) 

John J., 2nd. 

* Mrs. Maggie Cleveland Abbott. 

James J. Craig. 

(Mrs. Jennie Shaw Craig.) 

George A. 

Mrs. Hattie Craig Coulter. 

(Charles H. Coulter.) 



38 



CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 



* Jennie Ellis. 
John Craig. 

Mrs. Ella Craig Shields. 

(Dan Shields.) 

Mrs. Anna Beattie Morhouse. 

(Adelbert E. Morhouse.) 

Stewart. 

Col. John C. Beattie. 

Mrs. Mary B. Beattie. 

Martha. 

* Robert. 
Marcus. 

(Mrs. Fannie Broughton Beattie.) 
Cora. 
*May. 

* Irwin. 
Franc. 

Walter B. Beattie. 
Walter S. Beattie. 
(Mrs. Harriet Birch Beattie.) 
Gertrude. 
Harry. 

Nettie Grace. 

* Margaret Beattie. 

* Finley Beattie. 

James M. Beattie. 

Anna Beattie. 

Mrs. Caroline Cogswell Sharp. 

Maggie. 

* Mrs. Hattie Sharp Snyder. 

* Albert Cogswell. 

Ancestor, Thomas Boyd. 

Alida McAllister. 

William R. Boyd. 

Mrs. Kate Egery Edwards. 

(John Edwards.) 

* Mrs. Elizabeth Edwards Edgar. 

William John. 

* Charles. 

* William. 
Margaret. 

* George. 

* Frank. 
James W. Egery. 
Fannie McCleary. 



William J. Boyd. 
(Mrs. Mary McCleary Boyd.) 

Nellie. 

Charles. 
* Mrs. Maggie Boyd Hunter. 

* Mrs. Jennie Boyd Hatch. 
Ancestor, Robert Boyd. 

Mrs. Catherine McKirracher Stevens. 

Ancestor, Abner Carswell. 
* Mrs. Mary Chamberlin Cleveland. 

* Elmer E. 
James H, 
Fannie. 

* Charles. 
Ancestor, Peter Cruikshank. 

Capt. Robert Cruikshank. 

(Mrs. Ann Eliza Wells Cruikshank.) 

* Mrs. Ella Cruikshank. 

* (Dwight P. Cruikshank.) 

* Phelps. 

* Evelyn. 

* Alison. 

* Harvey B. 

* Everett. 

* Robert. 
Raymond. 

* Ernest. 

Capt. William J. Cruikshank. 

Mrs. Azuba Barnett Cruikshank. 

J. Henry. 

Peter H. Cruikshank. 

(Mrs. Miller Cruikshank.) 

Mabel Henrietta. 

Ancestor, Rufus Coon. 

Daniel Coon. 

(Mrs. Sarah Perry Coon.) 

George. 

Edgar Ladd. 

(Mrs. Nancy Thompson Ladd.) 

Marion. 

* Fred. 

Clarence. 

Ancestor, John Edgar, 

Mrs. Mary Edgar McMillan. 



OF OLD WHITE CHURCH. 



39 



[McMillan] * Frank. 
Mary. 

* Will. 

* Nettie. 
Kate. 

* Mrs. Sarah Edgar Lasher. 
* Mrs. Jane Edgar Gillette. 

* William J. Edgar. 
*(Mrs. Elizabeth Edwards Edgar.) 

* Wm. John Edgar. 

* Persis F. 
Ancestor, Hugh Fairley. 

Lizzie Fairley. 

Mrs. Fannie Fairley Dillon. 

Gordon. 

Ancestor, John Fairley. 

Mrs. Susanna Fairley Smart. 

John Wright. 

(Mrs. Melissa Haynes Wright.) 

Carrie. 

Frank. 

(Mrs. Emma McKinney Wright.) 

Alvah. 

Elsie. 

Grace Osterhoudt. 

Fannie Osterhoudt. 

Ancestor, Samuel Ferguson. 

William Ferguson. 

Esther. 

(Mrs. Elizabeth Ferguson Eraser.) 

John F. Ferguson. 

John Ferguson. 

Vesta. 

Mrs. Martha Ferguson McKinney. 

(John McKinney.) 

* Henderson. 

* (Mrs. Lora Crangle McKinney.) 

* James. 

Egbert D. Ferguson. 

(Mrs. Fannie Orcutt Ferguson.) 

* Margaret McKinney. 

David Ferguson. 

Lizzie May Ferguson. 

Ancestor, David Matthews. 

* Mary E. Crary. 



Ancestor, Col. Joseph McCracken. 

Charles H. Wilson. 

Mrs. Georgia R. Wilson. 

Ancestor, Alexander McNish. 

* Sarah Steele McNish. 

Ancestor, James McFarland. 

William McFarland. 

Margaret. 
John W. McFarland. 
(Mrs. Caroline Hopkins McFarland.) 
*Mary E. 
Susanna H. 
James A. 
William M. McFarland. 
* Mrs. Martha E. McF. Skinner. 
* Mrs. Mary Ann McFarland Culver. 
Mrs. Susie Culver Larmon. 
(Hon. Charles W. Larmon.) 
Edith. 
Frances. 
♦Mitchell McFarland. 
*(Mrs. Georgia W, McFarland.) 
*Edna. 
* James McFarland. 
* (Mrs. Frances Sherman McFarland.) 
* Frank. 
*Mrs. John M. McFarland. 
Ada. 
Edward. 
Ancestor, Daniel McFarland. 

Margaret McFarland. 

Ancestor, Robert McFarland. 

Daniel McFarland. 

Mrs. Sarah M. McFarland Dunn. 

Jennie. 

Eleanor. 

*(Mrs. Catherine Beattie McFarland.) 

* Grace. 

* Alexander. 

* Sarah. 

Ancestor, Alexander McNaughton. 
Edwin. 
♦Alexander. 
*John C. 



40 



CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 



Ancestor, Ebenezer McAllister. 
* Mrs. S. J. McAllister. 
* Mrs. S. A. Fowler. 
Mrs. Caroline Hopkins McFarland. 
Ancestor, Nathaniel McDougal. 
Jane McDougal. 
Ancestor, James Proudfit. 
Mrs. Mary E. Proudfit McFarland. 
Ancestor, Hugh Perry. 
(Mrs. Margaret Beers Perry.) 
John R. 
(Mrs. Ella Hobbs Perry.) 
Mack 2nd. 
A. Mack Perry. 
(Mrs. Anna Shields Perry.) 
Martha. 
Nettie S. 
Gertrude. 
Mrs. Sarah Perry Coon. 
George. 
Mrs. Mary J. Perry Mack. 
(Josiah Mack.) 
Harriet. 
Sarah. 
Charles. 
Margaret. 
Elizabeth. 
Ancestor, John Rowan 
*Will Lytle. 
* George Lytle. 
Frank Lytle. 
John Lytle. 
(Mrs. Minie Parker Lytle.) 
WiUis S. 
Wilbur M. 
Harry. 
Mrs. Libbie Lytle Fairley. 
(James M. Fairley.) 
Ray. 
George. 
Lena. 
Frank. 
Carrie. 
Isabel. 
* Mrs. Mattie Lytle Hall. 
* James Lytle. 



* Maggie Lytle. 

* Charles Lytle. 

* Rockwell Lytle. 
Ancestor, Gideon Safford, 

David H. Safford. 
Daniel McC. 
William C. 

* Robert Safford. 
Mrs. Alice Johnson Safford. 

Mary C. 
Agnes. 
John E. Gillis. 
Elizabeth Gillis. 
James G. Gillis. 
(Mrs. Lorraine Brown Gillis.) 
* John E. 
Elizabeth, 
Charles. 
Margaret. 
Esther Murdock, 
James Murdock. 
(Mrs. Laura Piatt Murdock.) 
*Dan. 

* Henry. 
George. 
Ada. 
Ella. 

* Mrs. Jennie Brady. 

Ancestor, Abram Savage. 

Mrs. Susan Savage McMurray. 

Mrs. Eliza Savage McLaurie. 

Mrs. Minie Schermerhorn McLaurie. 

Arthur. 

* Mrs. Ida McLaurie Vail. 

* Virginia. 

* Mrs. John Savage. 
Ancestor, John Smart. 

Hugh Smart. 

(Mrs. Wakeley Smart.) 

John W. 

Alexander Smart. 

(Mrs. Hetty Herrington Smart.) 

Nellie Smart. 

John S. Williams. 

(Mrs. Rebecca Wilson Williams.) 



OF OLD WHITE CHURCH. 



41 



[Williams] William. 
EliS. 
Ancestor, James Stevenson. 
Robert M. Stevenson. 
Hon. Thomas S. 
(Mrs. Alida Russell Stevenson.) 
George. 
Helen. 
* Sara. 
Ancestor, Robert Shaw. 

* James Shaw. 

Mrs. Jennie Shaw Craig. 

Ancestor, Thomas Steele. 

Mrs. Elizabeth Steele Eraser. 

(Judge Lonson Eraser.) 

James. 

Hon. Erederick. 
Daniel J. Steele. 
(Mrs. Daniel J. Steele.) 
Bessie. 
Adelaide. 
Pearl. 
Elsie. 
Ancestor, Robert Stewart. 
Mrs. Caroline Billings Austin. 
George. 
Bert. 
(Mrs. Julia Bain Austin.) 
Bessie. 
Elsie. 
Mrs. Ella Austin McAllister. 
(Robert McAllister, Jr.) 
Earl. 
* Mrs. Carrie Austin Closh. 
Lewis Austin. 
(Mrs. Fannie Glenholm Austin.) 
Nettie. 
Alfred Austin. 
(Mrs. Nettie Glenholm Austin.) 
John M. Clark. 



(Mrs. Mary Guernsey Clark.) 

Lucretia Bell. 

Elizabeth. 

* Joseph. 

* Irving. 
Henry Clark. 

(Mrs. Cornelia Wright Clark.) 
*Will. 
Mrs. Mary Clark Barnett. 
* Mrs. Cornelia Clark Aikin. 
*Alvah W. 

* Charles. 
Mrs. C. M. Wolff. 

Mrs. Libbie Wolff Perkins. 

(Robert Perkins.) 

Harold. 

Ermine. 

Baby. 

Ancestor, Walter Stewart. 

Robert Stewart. 

(Mrs. Jane Shaw Stewart.) 

Ancestor, William Thompson. 

Capt. James M. Thompson. 

* (Mrs. Mary J. Fairley Thompson.) 

* Frank. 

Mrs. Harriet Bentley Thompson. 
Carrie A. 
Henrietta. 
Mary, 
Charles. 
Mrs. Nancy Thompson Ladd. 
Ancestor, Capt. Alexander Turner. 
= Mrs. Lucy Turner Safford Mawhinny, 
*Mrs. Elizabeth Turner White. 

* (William White.) 

* Rev. Charles T, 
*(Mrs. Chas. T. White.) 

Ancestor, Gen. John Williams. 
Harriet M. 
Fanny H. 



IRoU of HDcmbers, 



Roll of members and adherents of the "White Church" 
at the beginning of 1898, whose ancestors had no connection 
with the congregation one hundred years ago. 

The * signifies in most cases, absence from Salem either temporary or permanent. 



Mrs. Amanda McAller Alexander. 
Mary J. 
John. 
Mrs. Jeanette McNab Ashton. 
*Will. 

* Andrew. 

* Hawley. 
Margaret. 
Bessie. 

* Lydia. 

* Mrs. Jessie. 

* Mrs. Barbara Hatcli. 

Mrs. Marion Roberts Babcock. 

John S. Barnett. 

Elmira. 

Josiah. 

Ella. 

* Mrs. Mary Fairchild Beattie. 

John Bentley. 

Mrs. Jennie Bentley. 

Harvey. 
Minnie. 
Mrs. Sarah Bingham. 
William W. 
Joseph. 
Mrs. Joseph Bingham. 
Carrie Brownell. 
Belle Brownell. 
George Bruce. 
Mrs. Anna Shields Bruce. 
Mildred. 
Georgiana. 



Will E. Bruce. 
Mrs. Nancy Shields Bruce. 
Harry. 

Darwin Alfred. 

Mrs. Polly Burke. 

Fred. 

Sadie. 

James R. Cherry. 

Mrs. Leonia Cherry. 

Willard. 

Mrs. Prudence Huggins Clark. 

Belle Cleveland. 

John Coulter. 

Mrs. Nancy Ellis Maxwell Coulter. 

W. James. 

Mrs. Belle Cowan Coulter. 

Charles. 

Joseph Crosier. 

Mrs. Joseph Crosier. 

Joseph. 

Louise. 

Maud. 

* Mrs. Hattie Fairley Crum. 
Mrs. Elizabeth Johnson Curren. 

William J. 

* James W. Doig. 

* Mrs. Mary Robertson Doig. 

* Albert. 

* Mrs. Fannie Shipley Doig. 

* Cora. 

* Woodworth. 
Mrs. Horace Edgerton. 



44 



CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 



* Fannie Fairchild. 

Mrs. Jane McMurray Fairley. 

Mrs. Margaret Fairley Ferguson. 

Mr. Lemuel Fitch. 

Mrs. Lemuel Fitch. 

Charles. 

George H. Gilmore. 

Mrs. Belle Reid Gilmore. 

* Reid. 

* Willard. 
Georgia, 
Edith. 
Lansing. 

J. Alvan Goodrich. 

Mrs. Ida Cammeyer Goodrich. 

Louise. 

Thomas C. Gregory. 

Mrs. Thomas C. Gregory. 

* Irene. 

* Thomas C. 

Russell. 
Theron S. 
David S. Gray. 
Mrs. Jean Wallace Gray. 

William Hale. 

Mrs. Maria Smith Hale. 

Fannie M. 

Martin Hanks. 

Mrs. Cook Hanks. 

Marshall. 

William. 

Warren. 

Mrs. Sarah Taylor Haskins. 

Mrs. Jane Doig Hedges. 

Paul. 

Mrs. Clara Gleason Hedges. 

* Oliver Hill. 
* Mrs. Lydia Shields Hill. 
Mrs. James Hill. 

* Alfred J. 

Mrs. Catherine Reed Johnson. 

Margaret Johnson. 

Eliza Johnson. 

Edward G. Johnston. 

Mrs. Mary E. Holt Johnston. 



Johnston] Ida. 

Charles. 
Mrs. Mary Perkins Johnston. 
Maggie. 
John King. 
*John S. 
* Mrs. Margaret Coulter King. 
Julia. 
Frances. 
Margaret Keys. 
* George Liddle. 
* Mrs. George Liddle. 
* George H. 
Will E. 
Mrs. Katherine Munson Liddle. 

E. Gerster. 
* Mrs. Louise Liddle Smith. 

* Henry. 
*Carleton. 

George Maha£fy. 
Mrs. Lizzie Shields Mahaffy. 

Clarence. 
*Mrs. Margaret Mahaffy. 

* Sarah. 

* Margaret A. 
*D. Alexander. 

* Harriet M. 

Mrs. Sarah Lambert Martin. 

Harriet Mead. 

Robert McClarty. 

Mrs. MacHn McClarty. 

* David J. 
Robert J. 
William. 

* Mark. 
Daniel. 
Lizzie. 
Samuel. 
Bertha. 

Mrs. McCoy. 

*Mrs. Belle Hunter McDowell. 

Robert McDowell. 

Mrs. Robert McDowell. 

Elizabeth. 

Fred. Miller. 



OF OLD WHITE CHURCH. 



45 



Alexander McKinney. 

Mrs. Jennie McGeoch McKinney. 

Harold. 

Mrs. Emma Allen McKinney. 

Willard. 

Oscar McKolt. 

Mrs. Maud Haskins McKolt, 

A, Van Tile McMillan. 

Mrs. Mary Wilson McMillan. 

* John. 

Sarah McMorris. 

Laura McMorris. 

* Margaret Miller. 

Mrs. Mary McCoy Monroe. 

Mrs. Charlotte Madison More. 

Theresa. 

Nettie. 

* Mrs. Ellen Shields Noble. 

John Oliver. 

Mrs. Jennie Ferris Oliver. 

James Norton. 

* J. Merton, 

* Joseph. 
Jennie. 
Anna. 
Mary. 

George Orcutt. 
Mrs. Mary Hall Orcutt. 
Anna Mary. 
Essie J. 

George Henry. 
Edgar W. Philo. 
Mrs. Cora Rosecrans Philo. 
Ernest. 
Mildred. 
William Pierce. 
Mrs. Rachel McAllister Pinkerton. 
John R. 
Rachel. 
Belle. 
Sarah. 
Mary. 
Carrie. 
Timothy Potter. 
Franc. 



John Parrish. 
William Prescott. 
Mrs. Lena McMorris Prescott. 
Marjorie. 
Joseph Qua. 
Harvey. 
Mrs. Anna Coulter Qua. 
Coulter. 
Henry. 
Lena. 
Baby. 
* James Randies. 
* Mrs. Mary Coulter Randies. 

* Helen. 

* George. 

Mrs. Grace Christie Rea. 
Mrs. Matilda McCoy Riley. 

David Roberts. 

Mrs. Jennie Jones Roberts. 

Elizabeth. 

Abner Robertson. 

* James W. Robertson, 

* Mrs. Kate Rice Robertson. 

Harvey. 

Mrs. Jessie McQueen Robertson, 

* George, 

* Andrew, 

* Mrs. Martha McClarty Robertson. 
* Mrs. Maria McMillan Rogers. 

Mrs. Honoria Rogers. 

John Shaw, 

Mrs. Jennie Underwood Shaw. 

Charles A, 

Jennie U, 

Archie Shaw. 

* Jay Sherman. 

* Mrs. Margaret McClarty Sherman. 

*G. Wilson Sherman. 

James Shields. 

Mrs. James Shields. 

* Robert. 

Mrs. Jennie Hunter Shields. 

* James. 
Lizzie Shields. 



46 



CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 



Fred. Spaulding. 

Mrs. Belle Beebe Spaulding. 

Ralph. 

Sarah M. Stafford. 

David Craig Stewart. 

Mrs. Anna Clark Stewart. 

Anna Marie 

Marguerite Bruce. 

Mrs. George Wadsworth. 

Margaret. 

^ Mrs. Sarah Wadsworth Martin. 

* Kate. 

Philip Washburn. 

Mrs. Mary Wilson Washburn, 

George Webb. 

Mrs. Ella Maxon Webb. 



[Webb] Harold. 

Leo. 
Fred. 
Earl, 
Jennie Wickham. 
De Witt Williams, 
Mrs. Matilda Dennison Williams. 
Mrs. John Winning. 
Ellen. 
Martha. 
* Mrs. Anna Winning Beattie. 
John. 
Carson. 
* William. 
Alfred M, Young, 
Mrs, Mary Newton Young. 



MINISTERS. 



Rev, James Proudfit, D.D. (Pastor). Rev 
Alexander Proudfit, D.D. (Pastor), 
Alex. Proudfit. 
John Wms. Proudfit, D.D. 
Robert Proudfit. 
Alexander Proudfit, D,D. 
John Beattie. 
James M. Matthews, D.D. 
James Lillie. D.D. (Pastor). 
John B. Steele, D.D. 
Wm. McMurray, D.D. 
Stephen N. Rowan. 
Wm. Cruikshank. 
John C. Cruikshank. 
Ebenezer Halley, D.D. (Pastor). 
Eben. Halley, D.D. 
James Stevenson. 
Paul Eugene Stevenson, D.D. 
John D. Wells, D.D. 
Richard H. Steele, D.D. 
Thomas B. Farrington (Pastor). 
John Crawford. 



James M. Crawford. 

Charles Thompson. 

James S. Stevenson. 

Jas. C. Forsyth, D.D. (Pastor). 

James R. Doig. 

Wm. Irwin, D.D. 

Geo. Beattie. 

David M. McClellan. 

David Lytle. 

Mr, Dysart. 

Mr. French. 

Wm. A. Mackenzie (Pastor). 

Thomas H. Mackenzie. 

G. Hale Getty. 

Charles T. White. 

Albert G. Todd. 

Jas. Gibson Robertson. 

Herbert C. Hinds. 

Wm. T. McMichael. 

Peter C. Robertson. 

Wm. H. Robertson. 

George Robertson. 



Rev. Daniel McCurdy Safford. 



OF OLD WHITE CHURCH. 



47 



ELDERS. 



William Thompson. 
James Matthews. 
John Rowan. 
James McFarland. 
Matthew McWhorter. 
James Stevenson. 
Thomas Collins. 
John Steele. 
John McMurray. 
John Beaty. 
Thomas Stevenson. 
Isaac Getty. 
George McWhorter. 



James B. Stevenson. 
David B. Thompson. 
Hugh Thompson. 
Ira Carswell. 
Joseph Clark. 
Wm. C. Safford. 
Earl P. Wright. 
William Edgar. 
James G. Gillis. 
William Chamberlain. 
Robert Stewart. 
David H. Safford. 
Peter H. Cruikshank. 



TRUSTEES. 



Alexander Webster. 
John Graham. 
Matthew McWhorter. 
Alexander McNish. 
Andrew Lytle. 
Thomas Beaty. 
Robert Stewart. 
Isaac Getty. 
David Thompson. 
John McMurray. 
John Beaty. 
Abner Carswell. 
John McAllister. 
James McFarland. 
Peter Cruikshank. 
Thomas Stevenson. 
Joshua Steele. 
Ebenezer Martin. 
David Matthews, Jr. 
Abner Austin. 
George Stewart. 
John McNaughton. 
John Crary. 
John McFarland. 
Robert Boyd. 
Ira Carswell. 



John Rowan. 
John Lytle. 
James Tomb. 
Thomas S. Stevenson. 
Andrew Anderson. 
Hugh Thompson. 
William H. Stewart. 
James G. Gillis. 
David McFarland. 
John B. Fairley. 
James H. Carswell. 
Ebenezer McMurray. 
William McKie. 
John H. Beattie. 
John Stewart. 
Pliny F. Park. 
Ebenezer Beattie. 
William McFarland. 
Peter Cruikshank. 
Thomas S. Steele. 
John Edwards. 
Daniel McCleary. 
Thomas Stevenson. 
James M. Thompson, 
Robert M. Stevenson. 
William Chamberlain. 



CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 



TRVSTEES-Conimued. 



Ebenezer McAllister. 
Alexander Robertson. 
James A. McFarland. 
Joseph Stevenson. 
John McMillan. 
William C. Safford. 



John McKinney. 
John Coulter. 
Edwin McNaughton, 
William J. Beaty. 
John S. Beattie. 
James H. Chamberlain. 



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DIAGRAM OF SEATS. 1797 



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A 



Scrape Sa\>e^ from Scattering* 

Read by R. Gregory. 

It is striking how often the number seven — which has 
the reputation of standing for perfection — appears in our 
Church history. 

On the 27th day of August, 1867, the centennial of the 
congregation was celebrated. That was thirty years ago. 
For a self-evident reason the speaker was not present that 
day. It was before his day. But he has been told that 
valuable facts were then brought to light by Dr. Asa Fitch, 
well known in the scientiiic world. These facts were care- 
fully preserved by him, "Being dead, he yet speaketh" — 
speaketh in living words to us now, 1897; for hear how he 
ends his paper : 

"Long live the old White Church in Salem! And when 
the last of its present members shall lie beneath the sod, 
and our spirits have returned to God who gave them — 
when the deeds of this present time shall furnish the 
materials of history — may it be the lot of a future chronicler, 
upon scanning the materials which we shall leave . . . 
may it be his lot to record that we were worthy of the pre- 
cious heritage which it is our privilege to enjoy." 

I will not take to myself the title of "chronicler;" but, 
as a representative of the present generation, at the end of 
the nineteenth century, I will endeavor to catch a few echoes 
from the end of the eighteenth, and project them, so that 
the twentieth, when it comes, may carry on the refrain. 

« « « 

As a specimen of the quaint, hear the following entry : 

'''■Resolved^ That the keys of the Church be kept by 
James A. McFarland, Esq., and no person be permitted to 



50 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

take the same without the authority of the trustees ; and 
also that the bell only be rung by Alvah Wright for the 
purpose of divine worship and at funerals ; and the gates 
be not opened for any other purposes except for the 
accommodation of some member of the congregation who 
has an interest in the Church, as pew-holder or other- 
wise." 

And what do you think of this ? — 

"At a meeting, March, 1843, of the male members of 
the congregation, it was Besolxed, That the sexton be 
directed to keep order in the lobby during service on the 
Sabbath ; and, if unable to do so himself, to call on the 
trustees for assistance." 

We are not aware Avhether these officers ever had to be 
called upon or not. There was an occasion, by the way, 
on which a disturbance was created at the other end of the 
house of worship. This story is not recorded in the 
"minutes," however ; the oldest inhabitant vouches for it : 

Rev, Ebenezer Halley owned a dog named Capers : a 
little fat, black dog. The animal always accompanied him 
when he went to preach, and slept during the service. 
The pulpit was very high, and there was a long flight of 
steps leading down from the platform. Gapers slept too 
near the edge : he dreamed, he moved, he rolled from the 
top of the flight to the bottom ; how he must have howled ! 
What his master did is forgotten. Also whether the 
children laughed; they may to-night : this is not the Sab- 
bath nor a formal solemn meeting. 

« « « 

Salem's village, with its churches, has been remarkable 
from the beginning for its lavishness in sending forth its 
sons. The process began only a score and a half years 
from the time when the colony from Ballibay settled here. 
Gen. Walter Martin headed a band of young men with 



OF OLD WHITE CHURCH. 51 

their families and established himself and them at Martins- 
burgh, Lewis County, this State. Far and wide have 
others gone, in a continuous succession of departures, by 
twos and threes or singly. But in a wider field of inlliience 
they have made a wider mark for good than had they here 
remained. 

Merely as one example of the clerical element, we 
instance Rev. John Crawford from this vicinity, who for 
nearly forty years has been telling the good news of the 
Saviour in the ancient city of Damascus. 

The young men have always been called upon to take 
an active part in Church operations. For one reason, it 
was not until very lately that it was considered seemly for 
the women to speak in public. The former always used 
to respond. Listen to what was in the Church archives : 

At a meeting of the congregation, October, 1793: It 
.,^K. voted that all young men attending on iiublic ordi- 
nances shall pay one dollar per year. ' ' 

1841. — '-'' Resohied, That Robert Stewart, Josephus 
Fitch, Robert McMurray, Wm. C. Boyd, be a committee 
to solicit from the young men of this congregation sub- 
scriptions for rej)airing the Church.'" 

These youths not only did their work as a committee, 
gathering all the money required, but they themselves sub- 
scribed sums ranging from one hundred dollars to five (only 
one of the last amount); most of them gave fifty and twenty- 
five dollars apiece. 

« « « 

To silence the pessimists among us who declare that 
the congregation is running down and dying out, we wish 
to observe that former trustee, Capt. James Thompson, 
who was in office for over twenty-five consecutive years, 
has furnished a list of eighty families of the old stock, 
still represented, who assemble in this sanctuary from 



was 



52 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

week to week. The family name of these has not in every 
case been transmitted, but the same blood runs through 
their veins, the same spirit animates them. 

« « « 

It would be interesting to gather in all the items extant, 
regarding those who have gone out into the world, also 
those who are even now "serving their generation by the 
will of God," here and there — from New Hampshire to 
Florida, from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. 

Will not some energetic person take the hint and make 
it his business to do this ? 

Then, if the septi-centennial ever should come to be 
observed, there will be abundant data from which to draw. 



tititi 



Hn Hppeal to f atber Uimc anD ifmaQinatton. 

By C. H. McFarland. 

Time! Father Time! Canst thou not hear? 
O lend to us thy listening ear — 

Give 7ts this hour. 
Open the windows to mem'ries old, 
Hold back the veil — let our eyes behold — 

Hast thou no power ? 

Thou wast here in the long, long ago — 
Eye-witness of that we would know — 

Plead we in vain? 
Show us those faces of Age and Youth, 
Early champions for God and Truth — 

Bring them again. 

Speak! long silent, unwritten years 
Voicing those grand old pioneers 

From Ballibay; 
Who kneeling prayed, while morning sun 
Witnessed to Heaven, a work begun 

To last for aye. 

Then shall their evening song of praise 
Reach us in echoing, joyful lays 

And glad acclaim. 
Here we will build — an altar lay 
Where we may worship God alway — 

"Praise ye His name." 

A century its debt hath paid. 

Of life and death, since first was laid 

Our Corner-stone. 
And children's children thrice have blessed 
A father's God and here confessed 

Him, God alone. 



54 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

Firm her foiindations, now as then, 
And strong her bulwarks are, as when 

Thus early made; 
Type of God's mercy, love and grace 
To sinful men, His blood bought race 

Whose debt he paid. 

So may it evermore remain 

Till He on earth shall come to reign, 

Peace to defend. 
And all the ransomed of the Lord 
Shall praise His name with one accord 

Time without end. 

As in His courts we waiting stand 
Beneath His consecrating hand 

Our vows we pay 
To Him who rules all earth and spheres, 
And unto whom a thousand years 

Are as one day. 



''Zhe present/* 

By Rev. Mr. Turnbull. 

I think myself happy to be with yon this evening, and 
tliere are two good reasons why I should occui)y bnt little 
of your time: The first is, that the committee that so 
kindly invited me to say a word this evening suggested 
that I should occupy but little time ; and the second is, 
that the fitness of things indicates the time. I am to speak 
of ''The Present." The present, as compared with the 
past or as compared with the future, is very brief indeed. 
You know the past includes all time that has gone by, and 
the future includes all time that is to come ; while the 
present is that infinitesimally small point on which we 
now stand. Indeed, the present since I began to speak to 
you has slipped away into the past. So, in accordance 
with the fitness of things, what I have to say should be 
very brief. 

The text before us to-day and this evening has been this 
building in which we meet to-night. What I have to say 
refers to the present. I have lived more to-day with the 
congregation that meets in this building than with the 
building itself. I prefer to speak of the spirit rather than 
of the body. And yet, as I walked around Zion to-day, in 
accordance with the divine command, viewing the towers, 
there is one thing that impressed me, as I looked at this 
old building, and that was its excellent foundation ; and I 
thought that had very much to do with its having lasted a 
hundred years and towards its present good condition ; 
for we all know that, if it had been built upon a poor 
foundation, it would never have stood these tests of years. 
And, as I thought of this Church, with its present power 
and influence for good, and the influence for good which 



56 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

it has been exerting in all these past years, and looked for 
the cause, I attributed it largely to that fact, that it was 
built uj)on a rock. It was well built, not only with 
reference to the foundation which was originally laid, but 
I concluded too, as I looked over this building this after- 
noon, that it had been well built in that the structure had 
been put together in such a way as to make it permanent. 
And so I thought with reference to this Church : there 
have been master builders here, men who have not built 
with hay, wood, and stubble, but those who have taken the 
Word of God and used it in such a way as to erect a 
structure here which shall last and which has exerted a 
mighty influence for good. 

When I was told that I was to speak of the present, I 
wondered why you had asked me to speak on that subject ; 
and one thing that came into my mind as a reason and sug- 
gested itself was, that it was possibly because I had been 
longer acquainted with your present pastor than any other 
of the members of the Argyle Presbytery, and that you, 
on this auspicious occasion, thought it not out of i)lace 
that I have a word to say with reference to the present out- 
look in this crisis ; and I congratulate you, my dear 
friends, on the union that has been formed this afternoon. 

I have known your pastor quite a number of years. I 
first met him in college, and have been acquainted with him 
all these intervening years ; and, as one who knows him, I 
congratulate you that you have brought into the Argyle 
Presbytery one who we feel will be a help to us all, and 
especially a great helper to the Church of Salem. Your 
present outlook is certainly auspicious. Everything that 
relates to your jDresent that comes up to my mind to-night is 
of such a character as to lead us to look out into the future. 
I don't want to trespass on what my brother prophet, 
McBachron, has to say, but I cannot help but feel that the 
outlook is very encouraging. 
One thing that came to my mind this afternoon, with 



OF OLD WHITE CHURCH. 57 

reference to the present, is that there is a great deal of, 
for lack of a better word, I will say grit in this congre- 
gation. They have certainly a great deal of moral courage 
when so goodly a number have come out to the session this 
afternoon in the midst of the driving storm. I think that 
spoke volumes for this people. And then, too, I know 
that you are a people not easily dissuaded from the house 
of God. All these things speak well for you. Then, with 
reference to the pleasant associations. You had to-day 
the assistance and help of your neighboring churches ; and 
I thought, this afternoon, as we partook of the bountiful 
meal which you provided, that it spoke much for the 
spirit of unity that pervades the churches in this village. 
It was not always thus. I do not speak with reference to 
Salem, but in many places you know it was not always 
thus. How often it has been that there have been contro- 
versies between the different congregations. It is pleasant 
for our brother to come into a place where the brethren in 
the churches dwell together in unity. 

Just let me, in closing, say this : My dear friends, you 
have to do with the present. And as your history is to be 
written, and we trust it will be in bright letters, for the 
next hundred years, let me say that it will be what you 
make it now. Do not forget that you are not to rely upon 
the future ; you are to do your work well now. Did you 
ever notice that the Master s commands are given in the 
present, and that He makes His promises to those who do 
their work well now ? Let us then realize that, if we are 
to live near God in our day and generation and leave such 
a record behind us that it will be helpful to others, it can 
only be done by doing our work well now. And God grant 
to this people, to all of us gathered here this evening, 
that we may do the work that is given us in such a way 
that it may be ours with all those who have gone forth 
from this house to meet with Him and spend eternity in 
the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 



'*a 6limp6c of tbc jfuturc/' 

By Rev. W. S. McEachron. 

Mr. Chairman : Last Saturday evening, unlike one of 
the prophets of old, I was not ploughing with oxen, but I 
was digging in the Word, when the message came to me 
that I was wanted at the telephone. I made haste to the 
telephone, and a voice came, I don' t know from where — it 
sounded like a voice from another world — "Will you 
speak of the 'Future of the "White Church." on next 
Tuesday evening sometime?" And, fool that I was, I 
immediately said, "Yes, I will." A person gets so accus- 
tomed to responding to every call, and especially as, 
unlike our chairman, I am the son of a deacon, and there- 
fore, when summoned to prophesy, I supposed that the 
inspiration would be given, and, if I was called to foretell 
the future, it would be revealed to me. Well, now, I have 
been seeking visions and revelations ever since, and they 
did not come until, this evening, I thought surely something 
would be revealed to me in regard to the future of the 
"White Church." 

If all that Dr. Turnbull said about you is true — and 
perhaps there is room for argument there — if all that he 
said about you in the present is true, then it would not be 
so difficult to tell what your future may be. 

Now, unlike Dr. Turnbull, I will have to speak a long 
time. All the speakers to-night have intimated that you 
are going to be here another century. If 1 have to foretell 
the future, then I am likely to speak for a hundred years, 
because we can only tell the days as they come. 

The future of the "White Church." We use this word 
"church" in a great many senses nowadays. So far as I 



CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 59 

can find — and I hope, if I am wrong, some of these D. D.'s 
will correct me — the Bible doesn' t use the word ' ' church ' ' 
in a single instance as applying to the building. We have 
the word in the New Testament as including the whole 
body of Christian believers, all who were Christ's; and we 
have it also with reference to particular congregations, like 
the Church at Corinth : but I do not think we have the 
word used with reference to the building itself, called the 
house of God, the meeting-place of God with His people. 

Now, if I were to sx)eak of the future of the Church in 
the sense of the body of Christian believers themselves, to 
whom the Word of God is committed, and who are to hold 
that Word forth, then I would say that this Church will 
be in the future, what it has been in the past — a guide and 
a light to men. The outlook from some standpoints is 
dark, but yet we are not lacking in a sense of hope. 
Everywhere, on the religious horizon, the coming of the 
saints of our country, the deep religious instincts of the 
human heart, the splendid past victories of the Church, 
and, above all, the divine promise that the gates of hell 
shall not i)revail against her, forbid our forecasting a dark 
or gloomy outlook. The world has proclaimed the death 
of the Church over and over again ; again and again the 
seal has been fixed and the watch has been placed at her 
supposed grave. But again and again the Church has 
come forth in the power of her resurrection of life, to make 
new conquests in the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour. 
No merely natural force can hurt her spirit, no heresies, 
however cancerous, will ever eat away all her creed, and 
no attacks of skepticism will ever overthrow her power. 
The Church of the future has the same foundation-rock as 
the Church of the past — Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, 
to-day, and forever. 

But perhaps I am expected to speak of the building. 
It is a centennial building. The human mind naturally is 
interested in places, not so much for their own sake as for 



6o CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

the sake of associations connected with them. All reli- 
gions have their sacred places. The Jew cannot forget 
Jerusalem ; the Mohammedan venerates the holy Mecca ; 
and every true child of God holds sacred the place where 
he has met with his Christian brethren to worship the 
common Father, to express his love and devotion to the 
common Saviour, We love the house of God, It has been 
to us the gate of heaven. This man and that man are able 
to say, "Here was I born." A day in God's house is 
better than a thousand. Thus the Church stands as a wit- 
ness ; I believe that this Church stands as a witness ; and 
I am in the building as a witness to the presence of 
Almighty God in this community. It is here God has 
promised to meet with His people. Here has been the 
meeting-place of hearts with God, And, as a witness of 
the presence of God in this community, the piety of the 
Church will be evidenced by their care of God's house; 
and, so far as I can see, if you take care of this house, it 
may stand another hundred years. You all know that if 
you go through a community and see the church running 
down, the shingles loose, the clapboards flapping, the 
window-panes out, the paint coming off, you need no one 
to tell you that religion is at a low ebb in that community; 
you know very well that the will of the Lord is not being 
done by many people there. But where God's people have 
that regard for the place of meeting that they care for it, 
it is one of the best evidences of their piety. And so I 
simply say that I believe that, whether we speak of you as 
a congregation of people, or the house, the meeting-place 
with God, there is a bright future before you, with 
splendid prospects and glorious hopes, 

God, in His providence, has removed from you one who 
so long held forth the truth ; but God, in His kind provi- 
dence, has brought to you another, under whom, sup- 
ported and sustained with unfaltering loyalty and faithful 
devotion, you will preserve the best traditions of this work 




REV. DAVID CRAIG STEWART 
Installed 1897 



OF OLD WHITE CHURCH. 6l 

of the Church ; you will broaden and deepen its beneficent 
spirit; you will make it even more than ever before the 
place of nourishment and refreshment for the struggling, 
toiling, weary souls — a place of discipline and inspiration 
for all the strong and courageous and hopeful souls that 
come beneath its roof ; and, until you cease to be, you will 
love this place. Forgetting, then, the things which are 
behind, press forward toward the mark of the prize of the 
high calling of God in Christ Jesus, for from it are the best 
things and grandest things. The glorious hope of the 
Church is beyond in the future. Bright is that future. 
And may we rise, and all of the people of God, to the 
blessed privileges and responsibilities Just now before us. 



« « « « 



Address by Rev. Dr. E. P. Sprague. 

Gentlemen, Christian Friends, and Neighbors: The 
younger sister, the " Brick Church," sends her greetings 
and congratulations to-night to her elder sister, the "White 
Church." And sisters, as they are, in the Presbyterian 
faith, we are not dissatisfied that one says the other is the 
elder, for we are not ashamed of years to-night, but rather 
glory in them. I say the younger sister. It is emphati- 
cally true, if we refer, as we do so largely to-night, to 
Church buildings. It comes very close to being the twin 
sister, if we use the word in its strictly biblical sense 
to-night ; for the old New England congregation, as it was 
called, dates back just about as many years as the life of 
this Scotch congregation, as it used to be called in this 
town, that was then called by the one people New Perth, and 
by the other White Creek. Had the fires dealt as gently 



62 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

with the old New England congregation as they did with 
the Scotch congregation, it might have been a Church a 
hundred years old that stands on that other spot to-night. 
But three times the Church building erected there has 
been destroyed by iire. I count it as something very 
pleasant that we might join in a measure in your celebra- 
tion, and have the gladness and pleasure and profit of 
having you with us at the other Church building between 
services; for these two Churches and congregations have 
been long close together all through these hundred years 
and more. 

We are speaking of Church edifices. Let me add just a 
word or two in the line of history, to show the appro- 
priateness of our drawing together to-night, because we 
have been giving one to the other all through these years. 
Away back, a hundred years and more ago, the first Church 
edifice erected in this village was, as you have been told, 
the little log meeting house down in the southern part of 
the village. Do you know what became of that log meet- 
ing house? The New England congregation had started 
and partly finished their first meeting house almost on the 
exact spot where the " Brick Church " stands to-day ; and 
when your ancestors built their second building, the one 
that stands on the top of the hill, the logs of that first 
meeting house were taken, and more than half of them 
used to form a stockade around the New England 
congregation's meeting house, which was turned thus 
into a fort and used for defence. During the Revolu- 
tionary War the two congregations met together in 
that log meeting house and united in making that their 
meeting house and fort. And I say, one Church and 
one congregation has been giving to another through all 
these years. 

You go back a hundred years for the building of this 
Church, and mention has been made of the one who was 
most influential in building this Church edifice. And the 



OF OLD WHITE CHURCH. 63 

one who did the most therefore and helped it on the most, 
and whose name may well be mentioned, as it has been 
here to-night, was a trustee of the other congregation and 
had been a leader and influential man all through the 
years in the other congregation. He gave his daughter to 
be the wife of the pastor here, and, when the daughter 
came here. Gen. Williams came also here. You gave the 
logs of the first meeting house to us to help us turn our 
Church into a fort, and we gave the first, and head one, of 
our trustees to you, to help build this meeting house and 
to give you the support of all these hundred years of 
the sons who have followed him and have upheld his 
name. 

May I add only just one more word? There come to 
my mind remembrances of the past, as this is not only the 
centennial celebration of the building of this Church, but 
there have been to-day the services of the instaHation of 
your pastor. I remember very Avell the other installation 
services of my own and of your other pastors here; and 
looking back over the days that are past, I lift up unto 
God an earnest plea and prayer, and murmur the prayer 
called up by those days with hope for the days that are to 
come. I remember well the first winter that followed my 
installation as pastor of yonder Church, and the revival 
services in which Brother Forsyth and myself shared here 
and there. I remember and thank God for the services of 
the first winter that followed Rev. Mr. Mackenzie's in- 
stallation as pastor in this Church, and the revival services 
that followed here and there. And I pray God that this 
Church, within its walls, and that Church, within its walls, 
may see a like blessing following the installation services of a 
pastor in one of these Churches : that this winter we may to- 
gether worship and praise God and rejoice as souls are 
born into His kingdom, into His Church on earth and 
into the Church that endureth forever and praiseth Him 
forever. 



64 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

Address by Rev. R. D. Williamson. 

Mr. Chairman : I would like to bring you the congratu- 
lations of a sister Presbytery, the Albany Presbytery, the 
nearest one to the Argyle Presbytery ; and, while I think 
that I am the only representative of that Presbytery here 
to-night, I know that all the congregation of that Pres- 
bytery, if they could be represented here to-night, would 
congratulate you on this one hundreth anniversary of this 
Church. Does it not seem somewhat strange that we 
should congratulate people on getting old ? It is not the 
usual thing. We usually extend pity and compassion to 
those who grow old, because there is a feebleness connected 
with it, a kind of a breaking down or breaking up. But in 
this case there is nothing of that kind. There are no in- 
dications, so far as I can see, either on the outside of this 
building or on the inside of it, of any feebleness. Taking 
this Church building, and considering the history we have 
had of it here to-night, and looking at the Church building 
as we see it here to-night, I think that we can safely say 
that this Church has been growing more beautiful. Evi- 
dently the additions which have been made to it have 
beautified it, have made it so that you can worship in it 
more satisfactorily. And, as we look around to-night and 
see these inscriptions on the gallery, when we see nature 
brought in to adorn the house of God, when we see our 
National emblem here before us, it is something unusual 
when we remember this old Church as it was a hundred 
years ago. It is doubtful whether the old flag was brought 
in then ; it is doubtful whether there could have been any 
flowers taken into the Church on that occasion. And so, 
to-night, I think that the Church is becoming more and 
more beautiful. And, when we see these beautiful flowers 
on the platform and see nature adorning the holy house of 
the Lord, we are glad to see that nature is brought in to 
helj) beautify God' s house. We make our homes beauti- 



OF OLD WHITE CHURCH. 65 

f ul ; but should not our Church be more beautiful ? It is 
where we meet with God ; it is where we meet together to 
receive His benediction ; and if there is any one place on 
the earth that ought to be made beautiful, it is the Lord's 
house. And I think this congregation to-night ought to 
be congratulated on the beauty of their Church edifice. 



« « « « 



Address by Rev. G. C. Morhouse. 

I have been trying to imagine all day, as I have been 
here in this service, what it must mean to you people; and 
it is only in imagination that I can reach anything like 
what it must mean. I apx^reciate that thought of our 
brother, that we associate our spiritual experience with 
places. We are in some ways so constituted that we are 
bound by the limits of places. I have not had the experi- 
ence of a long dwelling-place and a church home as you 
have. I left the church in which I had my spiritual birth 
in the early days of my spiritual experience, and I have 
had thirteen church homes in these years that have since 
passed. But I think of you, sitting here to-night, inside 
these sacred walls, a hundred years old — five generations. 
Why, it must be wonderful ; the impression must be glori- 
ous that comes to the minds, especially of these older 
people to-day. What experiences, what thrilling sensa- 
tions accompanying those experiences, must come home to 
your hearts. I congratulate you that you have had the 
privileges of this Church home inside these sacred walls all 
these years ; and you ought to be grateful to-night, and I 
believe you are grateful, that God has protected your 
dwelling-place from the devouring elements, and that it is 
preserved to you through all these decades. You know 



66 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

that the congregation that I represent here, in these years, 
has erected three church edifices. They have been, as my 
brother has suggested concerning the other church, at least 
one of them, destroyed by fire. God has dealt very kindly 
with you ; His providence has been over you, and surely 
your history, not merely in material things, but in spirit- 
ual thing and in the upbuilding of character, has been a 
remarlvable and glorious one. 

And, in conclusion, I want to join, from my heart, in 
the hojie expressed by Dr. Sprague in his closing remarks. 
I do hoiDe and pray, my dear brother, that your coming to 
this people and your being installed over this people and 
tliis Church may be followed by an outpouring of the 
Spirit of God upon this community ; that we pastors, 
working together under the manifestations of the Divine 
Si)irit and in the unity of the spirit and bond of peace 
and under this gracious divine influence that will come 
down upon our ministry, may, each of us, be privileged to 
see, in the months that are before us, a harvest here that 
shall make glad our hearts. I congratulate you on the ex- 
ercises and the associations and the influences of this day. 



« « « « 



Address by Rev. A. W. Morris. 

I think I should be very ungrateful indeed if I did not 
say a word on this occasion. It has been very seldom in 
my life that I have enjoyed a meeting as I have the one to- 
day. I have been here and been entertained, where I had 
nothing to do, and, consequently, no nervous strain, and I 
have enjoyed it to the full. 

I think the people of this congregation certainly have 
not only a right to be congratulated most heartily to-day, 



OF OLD WHITE CHURCH. 67 

but certainly there is something in connection with this 
celebration that should call from each heart here j)rofound 
gratitude to Almighty God, not only that your building 
has been preserved for a hundred years, but that this day — 
which indicates something, I take it, of the spiritual life 
of the congregation— has been so agreeably observed, and 
that you are so full to-night of spiritual life. From what I 
know of the parties forming a union here to-day, I cannot 
help but believe that the future is bright. I have known 
something of the Salem congregation for more than twenty - 
two years, and I have failed ever to find anything unfavor- 
able of them. I don't know that I ought to tell you how 
long I have known your pastor, for fear he might think he 
is older than he is. I have known him for at least twenty- 
seven years ; and away back in the heavy end of the '6r)'s 
and the beginning of the '7()'s he and I used to tumble 
around at a fearful rate to get over Greek roots and mathe- 
matical problems. And I don't think that you ought to 
judge him by the top of his head : he has a heart that is 
very large, as I think you will find as he gets along in his 
life among you. I have always known him very favorably, 
and he suggested to me the other day that I had been 
removed from the position of addressing the pastor to-day 
because I knew too much about him. I could not have 
said anything bad about him if I had wanted to do so. 
And I hope that the union that has started out so well 
may be long, and that a great spiritual blessing will not 
only come to this congregation, as has been expressed by 
a co-pastor here, but will come to the whole community 
and to every church in the village. 

« « « « 

Address by Mr. Skellie. 

I was invited here to attend this centennial and to make 
a few remarks ; but I could not put into language the joy 



68 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

I have had in attending the meetings to-day. And, to 
show you the interest I felt in your centennial, as I had 
other business which had to be attended to in the forepart 
of the day, I had to start at three o'clock in the morning 
and drive twenty miles in the rain before I took the train. 

The first thing I shall say is, that I miss my dear old 
pastor, Dr. Gordon, and I call to your remembrance this 
dear one of your Presbytery. I stand here as one of his 
children — as it were, the first one, if I remember right — that 
was taken into the church at Coila after he was connected 
with that church, about forty years ago. 

Now, what I was invited here for particularly to speak 
of upon this occasion was this : In the good providence 
of God, two weeks ago, this afternoon, I was invited to 
attend a pastors' convention in New York City in regard 
to holding a day of prayer and fasting all over the United 
States in every evangelical church. Having been invited 
there to take part with those pastors, although a layman, 
I was invited by the chairman of the committee to use my 
influence in stirring up the congregations near where I was 
located, that they might all partake in this important 
work, by meeting on to-morrow afternoon, between two 
and five o' clock, to pray for the outpouring of God' s Spirit 
throughout the United States ; that they may be revived, 
that God' s blessing may rest upon us, that a revival of His 
work may commence in the hearts of His own beloved 
children, that we may look forth during the coming season 
to one of the most important revivals of God's work ever 
known upon this continent. 

I went to Greenwich on yesterday to stir up the pastors 
there as well as I might to take hold of this work. I in- 
formed them in Cambridge on Saturday. I have arranged 
with the pastors of this vicinity to meet at Mr. Graham' s 
Church to-morrow afternoon at the hour spoken of. 

I wish to add that, if this congregation wishes one of the 
greatest blessings it ever knew, it will not be unmindful of 



OF OLD WHITE CHURCH. 69 

the fact that to-morrow is one of the most important days 
in the history of the United States, as it is appointed to be 
a day of fasting and prayer for one of the most important 
works that ever took place. Now, if we will all engage in 
prayer for the outpouring of God's Spirit, that we our- 
selves, individually, may have God's work revived in our 
hearts, there is no trouble whatever about the unconverted. 



ti^vi 




REW JAMES C. EORSYTHE, 1). 1). 
1858-1870 



** lRcmini6ccncc6/' 

By James C. Forsyth. 

Dear Friends : As I find it out of my power to be present 
in person and occupy a few minutes in giving some informal 
reminiscences of this venerable building — which has stood 
unmoved for one hundred years, and bids fair to do good 
service for one hundred years to come — I will, with your per- 
mission, speak by letter of some of the memories I still cherish 
and of events which transpired during my twelve years' pas- 
torate of the old " White Church." 

At the date of my call, April, 1858, this building stood very 
much as it came from the hands of your noble and self-denying 
fathers and mothers, who, with no little toil and expenditure 
of hard-earned money, built this temple in the wilderness in 
which to worship God, with no one to fear or to molest. It 
was beautiful in its stability and rugged simplicity, and by no 
means devoid of architectural symmetry, as is manifest this 
day. 

Its floors were then uncarpeted, its pews uncushioned ; and 
the melody of its music, as rendered by loving hearts and 
willing lips in Rouse's rugged version of David's Psalms, was 
"unadulterated" with organ notes, then regarded by many 
with abhorrence. 

During the interval which elapsed between the making out 
of the call and my installation, the building was painted without 
and within, the floors were carpeted and the seats cushioned, 
and the Church put in that neat and attractive condition in 
which it remained during my pastorate, with some added 
repairs immediately preceding the centennial of the Church's 
establishment in Salem : for which repairs the Church is in- 
debted to some of her earnest and faithful female workers. 

At the beginning of my pastorate the Church passed through 
a crisis : to which, at this distant day, I may be permitted to 



72 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

advert as one of the important "reminiscences" of that period. 
The subject of a union between the Associate Reformed Church 
and the Associate Church had been agitated for more than 
twenty years. At the meeting of the Associate Reformed 
General Synod, which was held in the City of New York in 
May, 1857, the basis of union had been accepted by this body ; 
and at the subsequent meeting of the General Synods of both 
Churches, held in the City of Pittsburg, Pa., the following 
year, the union was consummated with great joy and thanks- 
giving. 

This Church did not look with favor on the union ; and 
after I was called, and before I was installed, a meeting of 
the congregation was called, and a resolution was passed — 
how unanimously I do not know — declaring that they would 
not go into the union. The subject created both discussion 
and feeling, and at the beginning of my pastorate there was 
not perfect union in the Church on the subject. But as we 
were in the union by the action of our supreme judicatory, 
and could not get out of it without great danger of tearing the 
Church asunder, my advice was that we remain quiet, and 
cease to agitate the subject until we saw whether we were to 
be disturbed in the enjoyment of our Christian liberty; and if 
we were, we could then act intelligently and unitedly. 

Happily this line of action was adopted. Peace ensued, 
prosperity followed. And now that more than a generation 
has passed, with these two diverse elements ever residing in 
your midst, the wisdom of that course will not be called in 
question by any. 

The roll of the Church membership, as well as I was able 
to make it out, in 1858, consisted of one htmdred and sixty-four 
members; and the worship of the Church was in all respects, as 
to its order, as it was in the old Church in her native home be- 
yond the seas, with the sole exception that "lining out" in the 
praise service had been dropped.* On the Saturday preceding 
the communion Sabbath, tokens (a piece of lead with A. R. 

* This custom consisted in the chorister reading two lines, which were sung by the 
congregation ; then two more were read, and sung. And this continued till the Psalm 
was sung. 



OF OLD WHITE CHURCH. 73 

Stamped on it) were distributed by the pastor to the commu- 
nicants present. And it is a pleasant memor}^ that, with but 
few exceptions, they were present at the vSaturday service and 
received these tokens of admission to the Lord's table. On 
the Sabbath morning — it was Sabbath then, not Sunday — the 
table was spread in the front aisle; and the first duty of the 
elders was to receive from each member his token soon after 
he or she had been seated at the table. Table followed table 
until all the members had communed. It was a solemn and 
impressive mode of commemorating the death of our Divine 
Lord ; and only want of space, on account of the narrow cen- 
tral aisle and the increase of our members, caused us to drop 
it and serve the communion to members in their pews. 

But, before this, "tokens'" were dropped, because there 
were not enough to go around, and we had outgrown that 
nomadic institution, which, at the time of its adoption in 
Scotland, might have been necessary. 

I would not do justice to these "reminiscences" if I failed 
to speak of a memory which is very dear to me, and by which 
this Church was greatly strengthened in spiritual life — the 
Church's true strength — and the angels in heaven caused to 
rejoice with exceeding great joy. 

The "week of prayer" was begun in the session room, on 
the night of the first Monday of January, 1868, and continued 
from night to night until the nth of April of the same year- 
During all this long period the services were well attended — 
many coming from the country every night through snow and 
cold. The interest increased until we were obliged to leave 
the session room and occupy the body of the Church — a marked 
example of the power of divine trtith to attract and hold and 
save; for during all these meetings no modern appliances were 
used. Outside aid, except on two or three occasions, and only 
for a few nights, was not called in; and the services rendered 
by the members of the two Presbyterian Churches — the Brick 
was then vacant — were purely voluntary. I never called on 
any one to take part. The promptings of the Spirit which 
they had received in answer to the prayer of faith actuated 
them to testify to His power to save, and of which they were 



74 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

the living witnesses, was their only incentive to speak and 
pray, as many of them did both ably and well. Many of these 
testimonies were given before uniting with the Church. Of 
this Henry Safford was a memorable example. And I must 
here record with gratitude the aid given by good Deacon 
Atwood, of the Brick Church. 

As a result of these scriptural services and of the labors and 
prayers of the good people of the two Churches, of whom I 
could name many (some of whom still live), at our regular 
spring communion twenty-five were received into the Church 
by confession of their faith in Christ, of whom eleven were 
baptized; some of these, by reason of years, were nearly ripe 
for the grave. 

As it was manifest that this ingathering had not fully 
reaped the harvest, the meetings were continued each night 
as before, unaided from without, but aided mightily by the 
Spirit and workers resident in the field. Another communion 
was held April nth, when fifteen more were added — fourteen 
by examination, five of whom were baptized. And as though 
God would show us His willingness to give us His Holy Spirit 
when we ask and are ready to receive, those were added at 
our June communion; but, six weeks later, tzvelve more members 
were added — nine by examination, six of whom were baptized. 

The immediate result of this blessed visit of the Spirit in 
response to the faith, labors send, prayers of God's people was 
fifty-nine added to this Church by a confession of their faith 
in Christ. As evidence that this movement was of the Spirit, 
1 am glad to say that during my pastorate those who came into 
the Church at this time proved their ^^ faith by their zvorks." 

I would be untrue to one of the very pleasant memories of 
this blessed life experience did I fail to refer to a feature 
of our spring communion which gladdend many Christian 
hearts, and is still fondly cherished. The "supply" for the 
Brick Church failing to come, on our communion Sabbath fol- 
lowing the awakening they, in a body, came to our Church. 
The question then became a very practical one: Shall we 
invite them to our communion ? You know that, in theory at 
least, the United Presbyterian Church is close communion. 



OF OLD WHITE CHURCH. 75 

By the authority of the session I invited them all to come 
and with us take their seats at the Lord's table, and with us 
banquet on His love. They did come and were glad ; and the 
memory of that communion is sweet. 

Did time permit I would gladly speak of the Church's cen- 
tennial, when her sons and her daughters came from near and 
from far to honor their mother and to revive memories of years 
and of joys that had passed. But the record of that meeting 
is in your library, and almost all who participated are in the 
Church above. 

Nor will time permit me to speak of our Evergreen 
Cemetery, which was begun and completed while my home 
was in your village, and in which interest is ever increased 
and deepened as, one by one, our dear ones are gathered and 
in that beautiful spot laid down to sleep the dreamless sleep 
of death. 

My memories of the old "White Church" are very many 
and very dear, including not only the building, but those who 
worshiped there, many of whom are now dwellers in our 
Father's house above. 

One closing thought I will express with pleasure and with 
pride, and that is, that no uncertain sound has ever been 
heard from the pulpit of the old "White Church." Her 
pastors all, both great and small — and some of them were men 
of renown in their day — have been true to their commission and 
loyal to their Master : not wise above that which is written. 
And the fruit has been, and is, a united, prosperous Church, and 
a people firm in their faith, loyal to their Church, and, through 
the means of grace here enjoyed, ripening for the pure joy and 
the blessed rest of that world of perfect love to which the 
Saviour, one by one, calls His ransomed family to dwell for- 
ever with Himself, in the enjoyment of that glory unspeakable 
to which He has attained as the triumphant Redeemer of man 
from death and the grave. 

As it has been in the past, so may it ever be to the end : 
God, by His Truth and Holy Spirit, constantly residing in 
the old " White Church," to educate, to comfort, to bless, and 
to save. 




REV. WILLIAM A. ALVCKLNZIE 

1871-1897 



Xcttcre. 

The Committee of Invitation received many letters 
from friends at a distance, some of which were read that 
evening. All that was written being worthy of i^reserva- 
tion, copious extracts have been taken, and are here 
subjoined. 

The first was penned by Rev. William A. Mackenzie, 
the immediate predecessor of the pastor just installed. 
His words were not written with the intent of being given 
to the ]3ublic ; but who could si)eak more to the point con- 
cerning the old "White Church" than he, who occupied 
its pulpit for over a quarter of the century % The folio wing- 
is an extract from his letter : 

I hope that the day may be one of blessing, and that it 
may be the beginning of a new era of prosperity to the old 
"White Church," and that your sanctuary, which has from 
the very beginning been a high throne, from which the Mas- 
ter has issued His orders, given His counsel, extended His 
sceptre, pronounced His blessing, received the sinful, com- 
forted the sorrowing, strengthened the weak, warned the 
erring, lifted up the cast down, pointed to the better world 
and moulded and shaped therefor, laid His hand upon tlie 
little children and blessed them, and sent the bereaved with 
their dead to bury them out of their sight, with the comforts 
of His gospel in their hearts — this, and much more which I 
cannot now record, may the place of your sanctuary be in the 
one hundred years to come, as it has been in the one hundred 
years past — a '■^glorious high throne,'' from which the Master 
may still be the same to such as may gather within its 
walls. 



78 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

His younger son, Wm. A. Mackenzie. Jr., a bright and 
thriving young lawyer, now living in Syracuse, makes this 
remai'k in his letter : 

It seems hard for me to realize that my own associations 
with the old building extend over one-qnarter of the time you 
celebrate. 

Of all the occasions, joyful and sad, which come to my 
mind with the thought of the dear old place, it would be im- 
possible for me to speak, but I would like to know what others 
have to say, and hope that the exercises will be fully reported. 



« « « « 



Rev, H. L. Singleton, B. D., whose letter follows, 
almost in full, had temporary charge of the congregation 
for several of the fall and winter months, some years 
ago, during the illness and consequent absence of Mr. 
Mackenzie : 

I sincerely regret that an engagement in this city pre- 
vents me from attending the exercises of the "White Church" 
edifice to which you have kindly invited me. 

The occasion will be not only an interesting one, but an 
important one. The " White Church " has a history that is 
in some of its aspects unique. It begins in the old country, 
much of which was tragic ; it records a chapter of two months 
and a half on the boisterous waves of the Atlantic; it signalizes 
it as the first watch-tower of Zion erected in the wilderness of 
the New World north of Albany. It became the fountain 
source whence flowed the streams of family and ecclesiastical 
life that supplied and enriched the surrounding country. The 
lines of its history here are coincident and parallel with those 
of our civil and national history. 

Many of her sons were bravely and heroically engaged in 
our Revolutionary War. Her most distinguished member — 



OF OLD WHITE CHURCH. 



79 



throug-h whose counsel and contribution mainl}?- your present 
" White Church " was located and erected — on the field of battle, 
in the halls of legislation, in Congress, on the judiciary, con- 
tributed an important part in the achievement of our inde- 
pendence and the construction of our State and national 
commonwealths — General Jo Jin Williams. 

Under the faithful pastors of the Church generations have 
come and gone, from whom influences and agencies have 
sprung which have reached far and wide, shaping the religious 
life of individuals, churches, and communities. 

Much and perhaps the richest part of the " White Church's " 
history is unwritten; but it is recorded, and will be rehearsed, 
in the assembly and church in the Salem above. 

With my congratulations to the congregation, whose 
privilege it is to be the generation to celebrate the centennial, 

I am fraternally yours, 

H. L. Singleton. 

« « « « 



Rev. Dr. John D. Wells, Avho now lives in Brooklyn, 
speaks for himself of his young days spent in the vicinity : 

Yours of the 29th ult. is before me. I thank you for the 
courtesy of an invitation to the service commemorating the 
centennial of the " White Church " building, Salem, N. Y. 

My early association with Salem makes your invitation very 
attractive, and it seems almost absurd to plead a multitude of 
years as my main reason for failing to be present on that inter- 
esting occasion. There are other reasons indeed, for I am still 
a busy pastor, but eighty-two years and a small fraction more 
liold me fast to my home and parish. 

I need hardly add an expression of the hope that yoiir cen- 
tennial may be the occasion of great blessing, as well as of 
great interest, to the good people and pastor who worship in 
the venerable building. 

Yours sincerely, 

John D. Wells. 



So CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

Next we i)rint the kind words of one so widely known 
that no introduction is needed; there must only be an 
explanation of his connection with the little village of 
Salem ; the postscript will explain that : 

91 Park Avenue, New York, Nov. 2, 1897. 
Dear Sir : 

I very much regret that my engagements are such that I 
must deprive myself of the pleasure of accepting your valued 
invitation to the services commemorative of the " White 
Church," appointed for the 9th instant. I shall be much 
interested to learn of the complete success of your pains- 
taking arrangements for illustrating an occasion of historic 
interest. Very respectfully and truly, 

Andrew H. Green. 
Messrs. F. H. Williams, 

Wm. McFarland, 

David H. Safford. 

It occurs to me that the F, H, Williams above may be the 
lady with whom I have had correspondence and who is a mem- 
ber of our Scenic Society. If so, I trust she will accept my 
apology for not prefixing her proper title. 



« « « « 



The epistle of Rev. Dr. Steele is interesting, not only 
from its intrinsic merit, but from the fact that some of his 
relatives still form part of the congregation in Salem. We 
will mention one — the wife of Hon. Lonson Fraser : 

113 Charlotte Ave., 
Detroit, Mich., Nov. i, 1897. 
Dear Madam : 

I thank you, and your associates in the committee, for the 
invitation to attend the services commemorating the centen- 
nial of the " White Church " building in Salem. 



OF OLD WHITE CHURCH. 8i 

At an earlier season of the year it would have been pleasant 
for me to visit the town of Salem and enjo)^ the feast of good 
things which you are providing. BiTt I must deny myself of 
the pleasure of meeting with the congregation on this interest- 
ing occasion. Yet I must send to this Church of my fatJiers 
my most hearty congratulations and my joy on learning of 
your continued prosperity. 

I have pleasant recollections of that noble sanctuary in 
which three generations have had the privilege of worshiping. 

What a noble race of men they were who stood at the front 
to do work for the Master. And what an array of godly minis- 
ters who have proclaimed through these years the glorious 
Gospel of the grace of God. 

The occasion will be a delightful one, and cannot fail to 
result in much profit to you all. 

Regretting that I cannot be with you on the 9th inst., and 
trusting that the exercises may be all that you anticipate, 

I am, yours very truly, 

Richard H. Steele. 



« « « « 



The production of Rev. Dr. ScouUer's pen shows an 
aptitude of handling wrought through long experience as a 
church historian. True, natural taste and genius must be 
behind that ; read the following and you will admit that 
those are not lacking. 

Newville, Pa., Nov. i, 1897. 

Your kind invitation to attend the approaching centenary 
of the old "White Church" has been received; and if it were 
within the possibilities I would gladly do so. But long in- 
validism has been so weighted with years that I have become 
virtually housebound. It is now more than a year since I have 
been upon the street, and almost two since I have been to 



82 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

chiirch, and my days are far from being days of comfort, 
although my heart is fixed "and my mind is at peace." 

My first visit to Salem was in June, 1845, when I spent a 
week with Dr. Halley, and preached for him twice. Since then 
I was often there, and have had many valued friends in that 
old "White Church." But Time, the tomb-builder, has, I 
guess, garnered them all ; so that I am now personally a 
stranger there. 

God has again and again signally blessed that old Church . 
and if faithful to your trust. He will bless you still, for He 
loves to give. 

My prayer is that the past, with all its rich fruitage, may be 
only an earnest or first-fruit of a glorious future. 

Very truly, 

J.\1\IES B. SCOULLER. 

« « « « 



Next we have a contribution from the pen of Mrs. 
Wiles, a child of Dr. Halley, the lifth of the nine pastors 
who have had charge of the congregation in one hundred 
and thirty years : 

Albany, N. Y., Nov. 6, 1897. 
Dear Friends : 

The very cordial invitation of your committee, urging my 
presence at the services commemorating the centennial of the 
" White Church " building, is at hand. I wish to thank you, 
most sincerely, for this kind remembrance ; and were it possible 
for me to be absent from home on the day you have chosen for 
this service, be assured that nothing would give me more 
pleasure than to be with you. I have a warm place in my heart 
for the Salem people and the old "White Church," for I 
remember that that Church was my father's first charge in this 
country, and it was there that he gave so many of the younger 
years of his life. 

While circumstances will prevent my acceptance of your 




REV. P:I5ENEZER HALLEY, 1). D. 

1 838 -1 84 8 



OF OLD WHITE CHURCH. 83 

polite invitation, I shall certainly remember the event and 
pray for the continual increase of the old Church and its good 
people. Again thanking you, I remain, 

Very truly yours, 

Fanny Hart Halley Wiles. 



« « « « 



Mrs. Wiles was not born in Salem ; lier brother, Rev. 
Dr. Eben Halley, had his birth place here. Taken in the 
prime of manhood from earth to heaven, he shall be kept 
in remembrance by these words of regret and affection 
written by his bereaved wife : 

Dear Friends : 

I have just received the note of invitation from the com- 
mittee of the "White Church" building, and beg leave to thank 
them most kindly and warmly for their desire that I should be 
present at their interesting exercises. 

It would give me more pleasure than I can express to be in 
Salem on November 9th. I have heard from Dr. Halley, Sen., 
and my husband of their Salem days, and to which they always 
referred with the greatest affection. I regret, however, my 
inability to be one of those who shall listen to the reports and 
history dating over such a long period. 

Congratulating you and thanking you, I ain, 

Most sincerely, 

Henrietta B. Halley, 



« « « « 



Mrs. Farrington, whose communication follows, lived 
in Salem almost ten years, in the old parsonage, while her 
husband preached the word, administered the sacraments, 



84 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

and kept watch and ward of the " White Church" people. 
He died many years ago in Newbnrgh. Mrs. Farrington 
lives with her daughters in Lakewood, New Jersey. 

My Dear Young Friend : 

I was about writing' to you when we received your invitation 
to the centennial of the "White Church." I am too blind to 
go alone, and my daughters are more occupied than usual, 
owing to a new association for village improvement, which 
leaves them no spare time. I should much have enjoyed being 
there, but can only send my wishes for the presence of the 
Holy Spirit upon pastor and people. 

Please give our thanks to the committee for remembering 
us old friends. 

God has blessed you in the past ; may you have a double 
portion in the future : one may sow and another reap. May 
God have us all in His holy keeping until He takes us to 
Himself. 

M. M. Farrington. 

« « « « 



Tidings from the extreme north of the Presbytery 
came in the shape of these hopeful words of Dr. Reynolds : 

Putnam, N. Y. 
Dear Friends: 

Your kind invitation received, for which accept my thanks. 
I am sorry to be unable to be with you at the " White Church's " 
centennial. I hope, however, there will be a generation one 
hundred years hence, at Salem, both godly and prosperous 
and tracing many of their blessings back to the old " White 
Church." 

Yours sincerely, 

J. A. Reynolds. 



OF OLD WHITE CHURCH. 85 

The writer of that which follows was the Principal of 
the Washington Academy for a number of years. He is 
now a very successful pastor of a church in a neighboring 
town, and not infrequently visits our village: 

CoHOES, N. Y., Nov. 5, 1897. 
Committee of Invitation : 

Many thanks for the request to be present at the centennial 
of the "White Church " building, Salem. It is a sacred spot to 
me. There much of the truth that was planted in the heart of 
my precious mother took deep root, and was then brought to 
me in its fruitage to prepare me to be a minister of Jesus Christ. 
God only knows the blessing that Church has been, not only to 
the town of Salem, but also to Washington County and to the 
whole United States. Many a devout person has thought of 
that consecrated place, and said, " How amiable are Thy 
tabernacles, O Lord of hosts." 

I shall attend your delightful centennial services if my 
many engagements here shall permit. 

Yours very respectfully, in Christian love, 

Wm. M. Johnson. 

« « « « 



Rev. Dr. Fisher, whose eloquent production next 
appears, was settled in West Hebron, not so very many 
years ago ; and being so near a neighbor has always been 
asked to share in our celebrations. Though not here in 
person, we fancied him present w hen this was read : 

New York, Oct. 30, 1897. 
Committee on Invitation : 

It is a matter of profound regret that I am again prevented 
from accepting the very kind invitation to share in one of the 
"memorable occasions" of the historic "White Church." 

An important event in my family — the marriage of my only 
daughter, on the day succeeding the one fixed for celebrating 



86 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

the centennial of the " White Church" building — has established 
a monopoly of my time to the exclusion of all other interests. 

I wish to assure you of the warm interest I feel in every- 
thing that concerns the history of the old " White Church." I 
could only have been present in spirit when the old Church 
was building, a fact which will hardly account for the interest ; 
but the familiar names of the men who were there and of those 
who succeeded them have been household words in the homes 
familiar to the most of my life. 

The ambition that stirred my boyish hopes found their in- 
spirations in the living men that carved the fortunes of the 
Presbyterian churches (conspicuously the Associate Reformed) 
of the south end of Washington County. Within the sweep of 
the horizon of that young life, the giants in the ecclesiastical 
world, w^ere the men who occupied those pulpits, foremost 
among whom were Drs. Proudfit, Halley, and others familiar 
to the most of you. 

The influence of the men of the Chnreh of those early 
generations, in determining for the young the highest and 
noblest careers, both in Church and State, is beyond question. 
May those who have succeeded to their positions be alike 
faithful to their obligations, and transmit the inheritance with 
the added lustre of nobly filled opportimities. 

I am very sincerely yours, 

J. R. Fisher. 

« « « « 



Mrs. Fowler was a Miss McAllister once upon a time. 
She has removed far away from her childhood's home; 
but the mail is carried to and from Minnesota with great 
regularity, and brought us this warm-hearted effusion, to 
which we listened wdth delight : 

Minneapolis, Minn., Nov. 5, 1897. 
Dear Friends : 

I received your kind invitation yesterday, and hasten to 
reply. Nothing could have given me greater pleasure than to 



OF OLD WHITE CHURCH. 87 

visit the dear old place once more, had circumstances been 
favorable. May the blessing" of Almighty God rest upon all 
who are still members and interested in the old " White Church," 
where I first confessed Christ, and who has led me all the way 
these many years. I shall read the notice in the Salem paper 
of the services with great interest. 

Thanking you for your kind remembrance of me, 

I remain your friend, 

S. A. Fowler. 

« « « « 

The sons of tlie Church came to the front again, as they 
did at the congregation's centennial, also the quarter-cen- 
tennial of the eighth pastor, a year ago. Letters from 
four of Mr. Mackenzie's young men are inserted here in the 
order named : K-ev. Herbert C. Hinds, now in the Presby- 
terian Cliurch ; Rev. Albert G. Todd, Congregational, set- 
tled in Worcester, Mass.; Rev. Charles T. White, over a 
Presbyterian Church in Hebron ; Rev. James G. Robert- 
son, pastor of a Congregational Church in Chester, New 
Hampshire : 

4 McPherson Terrace, 
Albany, N. Y., Nov. 5, 1897. 
My dear Miss W.: 

It would afford me very much pleasure to attend the 
centennial exercises of the old " White Church," and say a few 
words of the future ; but a previous engagement to deliver an 
address before the quarterly convention of the Y. P. S. C. E. of 
Schenectady County, at Schenectady, in the afternoon of 
Tuesday, the 9th, will prevent. 

I regret that some meeting interferes with all your calls for 
a speech, and I hope that I may be able to respond to your 
next request. 

With many thanks to you and the committee, and with best 
wishes for your future, 

I am very cordially yours, 

Herbert C. Hinds. 



88 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

15 Stafford St., 
Worcester, Mass., Nov. 3, 1897. 
Committee of Invitation. 

My dear Friends : I consider myself highly honored in 
receiving an invitation to the centennial of the " White Church " 
building, Salem, N. Y. I truly regret that it will be impossible 
for me to attend the exercises connected therewith — due, in 
fact, to the meeting of our Ministerial Association on that date, 
in Bethany Church. 

That the occasion may prove a spiritual uplift to the beloved 
Church, and entire community, is my hearty wish and earnest 
prayer. Cordially, 

Albert G. Todd. 

Hebron, N. Y., Nov. 5, 1897. 
Mr. D. H. Safford. 

Dear Sir : The kind invitation of the committee to attend 
the anniversary exercises of the " White Church " building, 
Tuesday evening, Nov. 9, was received three days ago. I have 
delayed answering in the hope of seeing my way clear to accept 
the invitation, but the coming week seems so far filled with 
special work that I am extremely doubtful whether I can allow 
myself the pleasure of being present. 

Hoping I can find time to enjoy the occasion with you, I 
will, at least, extend my congratulations to the congregation 
for their past history of usefulness and service in the vineyard 
of the Master, hoping and praying that the future of the old 
" White Church " may be even brighter than the past, and that 
the new pastorate, so auspiciously begun, may mark an era of 
prosperity and rich spiritual blessings. 

With thanks for the invitation, I remain. 

Sincerely yours, 

Chas. T. White. 



Chester, N. H., Nov. 2, 1897. 
Dear Friends : 

I write to thank 3^ou for the kind invitation to be present at 
the centennial service soon to be held in the "White Church." 

.L.oiC. 



OF OLD WHITE CHURCH. 89 

It is with sincere regret that I write saying I shall not be able 
to be with you, for I owe so much to the Church of my boyhood 
and youth that I wish to show deference to her in every possible 
way. If the Lord has, in His wondrous mercy, made me to be 
of some service to my brother men, I have the training received 
in the " White Church " to thank for it. My sympathy and 
prayers shall be with you on the joyous occasion, and I will 
rejoice with you in spirit. 

Sincerely yours, 

Jas. G. Robertson. 

« « « « 



The w^eek after tlie centennial was over, on receiving 
the newspaj)er account, Mr. Robertson wrote once more to 
this effect : 

I am glad the exercises went off so well and that there was 
so large an attendance. Just think, we shall never have that 
opportunity again ! One centennial is all that is allowed to 
mortals. One who reflects upon this finds no difficulty in recog- 
nizing his limitations as to hundred-year anniversaries. Another 
generation will inhabit the earth when the next centennial of 
the old Church comes around, if the building will last so long. 
How I should like to look in on thein to observe their manners 
and customs. I doubt if steam-cars will be running over the 
old D. & H. road ; there will be other and better modes of 
transportation. I think some of the old family names will 
remain. McFarland's and Beatty's will still inherit the earth, 
and tend store, and be useful in a thousand ways. How time 
flies ! 

« « « « 



We empty the mail-bag by producing two letters from 
ministers of the M. E. Church. They contain good wishes 



90 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

from Rev. Mr. Harwood (who was here for several terms, 
and whom we would like to have had longer, the inter- 
course between the congregations being so pleasant), and 
Mr. Meeker who, though never stationed in Salem, was 
almost the next thing to it, having his abode in Cambridge : 

Round Lake, Nov. 8, 1897. 
Mr. William McFarland, 

Member of the Committee of Invitation. 
Dear Sir : Your kindly invitation is before me, and I 
hasten to reply. While it would afford me much pleasure to 
be present at your centennial, circumstances are such that I 
cannot well attend. 

Hoping that you as a people may have an enjoyable time, I 
remain, 

Yours fraternally, 

T. W. Harwood. 

P. S. — May the old " White Church " stand another hundred 
years, to shed its halo of brightness on its many sons and 
daughter, and bless the conwiiinity where its honored form is 
so well known. 

T. W. H. 

« « « « 



Troy, N. Y., Nov. 5, 1897. 
Committee of Invitation. 

Dear Friends : I can hardly tell in words what heartfelt 
pleasure it gives me to be invited once more to the old " White 
Church " and its devout people for another memorial service. 

I thought, when with you in your last celebration, that I 
was attending my final service in a place that has been, like 
Uz of old, invested with the divine Spirit for a hundred years. 

I have a great veneration for old places where the fathers 
and mothers gathered for their Sabbath worship, where the 
Gospel has been preached in its purity and power, and where 
I have been occasionally invited to give a sermon and received 



OF OLD WHITE CHURCH. 91 

with the kindest welcome by pastor and people. As I have 
said, I greatly appeciate the kind invitation, and would be 
delighted to join with you in the historic service, but a previous 
engagement prevents acceptance. 

Though absent in body, I shall be present with you in 
spirit ; and my prayer is that the devotion, peace, and prosperity 
which has characterized you in the past will continue in the 
future. 

Most cordially yours, 

W. H. Meeker. 



^S» '^« ^^ 



"i^'r.yj' "ir^i*-% 




TOKENS 



H)c0cnption of tbe flDuecunu 

Persistently has the "Gray Man" shadowed all of 
Salem's history, and this fragment wonld be incomplete 
without a touch of his hand. Thus he seems to have 
regarded the matter, for on the eve of the centennial he 
quietly placed on the collector's desk a long-lost relic: this 
was a small gray book, containing the farewell address of 
Dr. Thomas Clark to his Balibay congregation. The 
little volume had not been seen for a dozen or more years, 
and its mysterious re-appearance is at least worth noting. 

A few days before, while search was being made in an 
old garret, there came to light a quaint picture of a church. 
It was wrought with a needle in silks ; on the back was 
pasted a newspaper, bearing date 1797 ; this savored so 
strongly of the Gray Man's manoeuvres that his domain 
was abandoned and interesting relics were sought else- 
where. 

Friends, learning that antiques were desired for exhibi- 
tion on this occasion, sent two old-time foot-stoves, which 
were formerly carried to Church that the worshipers 
might not freeze ; an ancient Bible and Psalm-book too, 
long out-lasting their original owners ; a huge china plat- 
ter was in the collection, having escaped uncracked from 
the wreck of time ; a pewter plate and porridge-pot were 
also known to have ' ' ministered to the necessities of the 
Saints" in the dim long ago. 

A few Church "Tokens" were displayed to be looked at 
where once they had been distributed with great solemnity ; 
the writer remembers the responsibility which the care of a 
"Token" involved, from the Saturday afternoon service 



CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 94 

until it was safely returned to an elder at the communion 
table. What if it should be left at home, or worse, droi)X)ed 
when being handed ? 

A baptismal bowl was one of the interesting articles ; 
many years' service had so worn off the silver that it had 
been considered unlit for use and stored away, no one 
knows how long, on a high shelf. 

Two contribution-boxes with long handles, to provide for 
reaching the extreme ends of the pews, testified that 
giving was practised as an act of worship in those ancient 
days, though in a different style from the modern plates 
now passed around. 

There were letters of early date, besides publications 
whose venerable appearance called forth the wonder which 
"The Salem Book" and this pamphlet may evoke in 
nineteen hundred and ninety- seven. 






O^ 



